Championship Review
Bedford Blues snatched a late victory at home to the Knights
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This weekend saw an exciting weekend of Championship rugby with one major shock as in crisis Plymouth recorded a narrow while the rest of the weekends fixtures had enough tries to keep any rugby fan thoroughly entertained.
Bedford Blues 35 Doncaster Knights 29
Jake Sharp’s try in the final play of the game secured a hard fought victory for Bedford, who twice game back from the dead to win, strengthening the Blues Play-Off push. They first overturned a 26-9 deficit, but the Knights Dougie Flockhart then struck a penalty to once again give the visitors the lead. However with time just about up Peter White found Sharp, who finished neatly in the corner to the delight of the home fans. The win leaves Bedford in sixth on 26 points while Doncaster are second from bottom but have a eight point advantage over bottom club Plymouth.
Jersey 17 Bristol 27
Marco Mama touched down twice as top of the table Bristol overcame Jersey to record and eleventh straight victory. The defeat left Jersey coach Harvey Biljon frustrated. He said: “We deserved more but didn’t get it. He added: “ We have to reproduce that commitment and desire we showed in our next few games.”
The game was nip and tuck until the 73rd minute when Mama touched down his second score and his teams fourth try of the game, securing his side a bonus point while snatching away a losing bonus point from the hosts.
London Scottish 26 Yorkshire Carnegie 22
Scottish recovered from an unacceptable first half display to consolidate their place in the top four with a bonus point triumph over Yorkshire Carnegie. The Exiles were 8-0 down at the break, but improved drastically after the interval as they touched down four tries through Mark Bright, Peter Lydon, James Philips and Chevvy Pennycook. The comeback thrilled Scottish boss Mike Friday.
He said: “We had field position in the first half but didn’t get our line out right and then gifted them a try. But we talked at half-time about having the ambition to play with the ball in hand and we saw our ability to play open, attacking rugby.”
The win means the hosts remain third in the league, holding a 9 point advantage over fifth play Rotherham, while Yorkshire Carnegie’s disappointing season sees them remain in eighth with little chance of a Play-Off push this year.
Plymouth Albion 19 Moseley 18
Rock bottom Plymouth ended a troubled week on a high as they gritted out a narrow win over Moseley.
The visitors almost snatched the win with seconds remaining with a long range penalty but the hosts held on for a first win since last March against Bedford Blues. Off the field Albion had announced earlier in the week that they had the intention of appointing an administrator but on the pitch the team rallied to the delight of Albion head coach James Shanahan, who commented after the game: “After everything that has happened this week I was really proud of the players who have worked hard and deserved this victory. “
The win leaves the host’s bottom, eight points from safety while Moseley stay ninth.
Rotherham Titans 19 Nottingham 28
The Titans Play-Off hopes took a major dent as they lost out to promotion rivals Nottingham, meaning they have now lost three consecutive home games in all competitions. Rotherham had led 14-5 at the break, however after the break the powerful Nottingham forward line took control with hooker Shaun Malton and flanker Bren Wilson, who was skippering his side for the 50th time, both touching down. The win means fourth place Nottingham extended their lead to eight points over the titans who sit just one place below in fifth.
Worcester 62 Cornish Pirates 26.
Worcester began 2015 by keeping the heat on promotion rivals Bristol with a sensational ten try victory over Cornish Pirates at Sixways. The hosts were simply too good with Tom Biggs scoring a hat-trick for the hosts. There were also tries for Andy Symons, Max Stelling, Chris Pennell, Ben Howard, Darren O’Shea, Jonny Arr and Agustin Creevy. The win and performance of the backs thrilled the Warriors Director of Rugby Dean Ryan. He said: “We have got a lot of pace and good handlers of the ball and when you have that combination it is pretty difficult to defend against.
