Chinnor looking to remain top of National Two South

After the Old Elthamians’ victory over Taunton Titans last weekend, Chinnor moved to the summit of National Two South and they will keen to extend their stay at the top of this division this weekend.

Matt Williams’ side have won all six of their matches so far this season and go to a struggling Barnes side this Saturday with their sights set on continuing their unbeaten start to the campaign.

The Old Elthamians are the only other side with a 100 per cent record heading into Round Seven. The OE’s sent out a real message to the rest of the division with their victory at Taunton six days ago and they will be keen to maintain that winning feeling this weekend.

Elsewhere, Taunton, Redruth and Bishops Stortford will continue to hunt down the top two while a victory is something the likes of Exmouth, Barnstaple and Clifton desperately desire.

Barnes v Chinnor

Barnes have not started the season in the best of form. The South-West London club have been a shadow of the team that had a positive campaign last term and have only picked up one win so far this year, leaving Barnes 13^th in the table at this early stage.

After starting 2016 in fine form, which was a major factor in keeping in them in this division last season, the men from Queen Elizabeth Walk ended the campaign with no wins from their final seven matches. Barnes now head into this game with Chinnor having won just once in their last 14 league games so they’ll be desperate to turn things around sooner rather than later.

In contrast, Chinnor have made a sensational start to this National Two South season. The Black and Whites ended the last campaign in fine form, winning seven of their final nine matches to avoid relegation from this division after an injury hit term for Matt Williams’ men.

Chinnor have picked up from where they left off last year and have won their first six games leaving them top of the division as things stands. It has been the perfect start for the league’s leading point’s scorers and Chinnor will be favourites to maintain their unbeaten run in this fixture with Barnes.

Old Elthamians v London Irish Wild Geese

The Old Elthamians have been absolutely superb this season so far. Having finished eighth last term, the OE’s have clicked themselves into another gear as they have racked up six wins in their first six matches, including a victory over Taunton Titans last weekend which ended their perfect start to the campaign.

That triumph over Taunton sent out a message to the rest of the division that the OE’s are ready to take an extra step up the National Two South ladder. They will have been delighted with the way this year has gone so far – with them currently sitting second in the table- but Gavin Lach will know his side can’t rest on their laurels when they welcome London Irish Wild Geese to College Meadows this weekend.

The London Irish Wild Geese have made an OK start to life in National Two South this season. Irish gained promotion in May and have won two of their first six matches of the new season and as a result, they sit 12^th in the table– four points clear of the relegation zone.

After back to back wins to end September against Exmouth and Barnes, Wild Geese have failed to build on that in October suffering consecutive defeats against Bury St Edmunds and Cinderford. There have been positives in those losses for Irish to take, but they know they will have to raise their game on Saturday if they are to get anything from this fixture against a rampant OE’s side.

Canterbury v Taunton Titans

Canterbury are once again being plagued by inconsistency in National Two South this season. In the last campaign, the Kent outfit got off to a flying start but were unable to back that up as a string of defeats hampered their progress up the division. It was no surprise to see them finish mid-table last term and it looks like history could be repeating itself this year.

After six games this season, the City Men find themselves 10^th in the table having won two of their first six matches. The highlight of their season thus far is undoubtedly the win in their last home match against Bishops Stortford and they’ll be hoping to make it back to back wins on their own patch when Taunton come to visit this Saturday.

Taunton Titans are looking to have a crack at promotion to National One this season and they are looking capable of doing just that after six games. Even though it is still early days in this campaign, the Titians currently sit third in table, just three points behind Chinnor having secured five wins so far this term.

They had begun the season with maximum points following five bonus-points wins on the trot, but that came to an abrupt end last Saturday as Andy Yapp’s men fell to a home defeat against the Old Elthamians. Taunton will be itching to get their season back on track and will fancy their chances of gaining another victory this term when they take the trip to Kent tomorrow.

Bury St Edmunds v Redruth

Bury St Edmunds host Redruth at The Haberden tomorrow afternoon and as things stand, the Suffolk-based club sit in the top half of the table and are looking good to have another successful term in National Two South. After promotion to this level in 2015, Bury finished sixth last season which they would’ve been delighted with and currently, they occupy seventh spot in this campaign.

Bury head into this game with Redruth in mixed form. Gavin Hogg’s men have won three and lost three of their matches so far this season and notably, all three of their victories have come on home soil so another triumph in front of their own supporters could be on the cards this weekend.

Redruth are hoping to match or even better last year’s excellent showing in National Two South. Following a ninth place finish in the season before last, the Cornwall-based side had a brilliant campaign in 2015/16 as they finished fourth in the table and were good value for it too.

This time around, The Reds are continuing in the same fashion and may well be aiming to be in hunt for promotion come the end of the season. Marek Churcher’s men currently sit two places and four points outside the top two spots thanks to five wins from their first six matches. A victory this weekend would further enhance their promotion challenge.

Barnstaple v Bishops Stortford

Barnstaple may well have been tipped for an immediate return to National Three this season. Barum earned promotion via the play-off in May for the first time in the club’s history and so far they are struggling to find their feet at this level as they sit in the bottom three following six matches.

Barnstaple have picked up just one win this campaign – that coming in Round Five against Clifton – but other than it is has been tough going for North Devonshire club. They have battled very well this term and they will need some of that fighting spirit when they host Bishops Stortford this Saturday.

Stortford have been doing pretty well so far in National Two South and are looking like potential promotion candidates at this early stage. With six games gone, Andy Long’s men sit in fifth place having won four matches so far this season.

Stortford went on an excellent three match winning run to begin the term which saw them go within touching distance of top spot, before back to back defeats against the Old Elthamians and Canterbury brought them back down to earth. They responded last week by thumping Clifton, so Stortford will be keen to follow that up with a victory in Devon this weekend.

Clifton v Worthing Raiders

Clifton are looking to string a winning run of matches together as they continue to struggle towards the wrong end of the National Two South table. After six matches played, the South Gloucestershire club sit in 14^th place meaning they occupy one of the relegation spots having picked up just one victory so far this term.

The Lavender and Blacks’ only win came on home turf when they beat Canterbury in Round Four in their last game at Station Road. In fact, all seven of the points they have picked up have come in front of their own supporters so it is possible that Clifton can use that to their advantage this weekend to gain back to back homes wins when Worthing Raiders come to visit.

Worthing have endured a good start to the season. The Raiders have won four and lost two of their six matches so far in National Two South and they will be satisfied with their opening to this campaign following a difficult term last year when they were fighting off relegation.

In 2014/15, Worthing finished fifth in this division and they may well have their sights set on that target again this time around. Three of the Raiders’ victories have come at home meaning on the road, they have picked up just one win and that will need to change if they harbour any hopes of challenging further up the table. Can Worthing add to their away triumphs this weekend?

Cinderford v Henley Hawks

Cinderford have certainly not found life in National Two South straight forward so far this season. The Gloucestershire club were relegated from National One in May, but have not had a particularly strong start to the season as they currently sit ninth place in the table at this early stage of the campaign.

Although there is still plenty of time for Cinderford to mount a challenge for an immediate return to the third tier of English rugby, they seem to be struggling for form at this current moment. They have won three and lost three of their first six matches at this level and host Henley Hawks this weekend having picked up just one victory from their last four games - that coming six days ago away at the London Irish Wild Geese.

Henley Hawks are currently in the same boat as Cinderford. The Hawks were relegated alongside the men from Dockham Road last season and have also begun their time in National Two South with a mixed bag of results. In fact, it is identical to Cinderford’s as Henley have three wins and three defeats to their name.

The Hawks were the champions of this division two seasons ago, but as things stand, replicating that seems a long way off this term. Henley travel to Gloucester this weekend in much better form than their hosts having won three of their last four matches. They sit a place above Cinderford in table with two points separating them and Henley may fancy their chances of widening that gap this Saturday.

Exmouth v Redingensians

Exmouth’s campaign has been a tough one so far. The Devonshire side would have been expecting a difficult season following promotion in May and that is exactly what has occurred as they find themselves bottom of National Two South after six fixtures, having picked up just two points this term.

Exmouth have shipped the most points so far this season (307), but they have scored the highest in the bottom three which shows they are not afraid to take the game to the opposition. Last season in National Three South West, Exmouth won all 13 of their home matches so they’ll be hoping to regain some of that form when they host the Redingensians this weekend.

The Redingensians ended last season in National Two South in seventh place following promotion from National Three last May. This was an excellent achievement by the Rams, but they have not had the strongest of starts to this campaign as they have picked up just two wins from their first six matches.

However, the Rams certainly have the capability to turn their fortunes around - which they did last season to achieve their top half finish. They head into this fixture with Exmouth on the back of a positive win over Barnstaple last weekend and the men from Old Bath Road will be keen to build on that as look to manoeuvre their way into the top half of the table.