Easter Saturday set to serve up a treat in National Two North

It may be the Easter weekend, but don’t expect any one of the eight teams in action this Saturday to be handing over gifts to their opposition, especially at this stage of the season.

All four games in this final scheduled reserve weekend in the National League calendar take place in National Two North with each fixture carrying some significance.

The top two sides, Macclesfield and Sedgley Park, are both in action with the league leaders knowing a top two finish can be confirmed with victory over Otley this weekend. Added to that, they could reach a century of points for this term with a win.

Down at the bottom, Sandal take the trip to second placed Sedgley while South Leicester and Huddersfield will be desperate for wins against Preston Grasshoppers and the in-form side in the division, the Luctonians.

Otley v Macclesfield

Otley’s season looks like it has solidified in recent weeks. Victories over South Leicester, Broadstreet and Preston Grasshoppers leaves the men from Cross Green in a comfortable sixth position and they look set to certainly finish in the top half this campaign.

After ending last term with five straight defeats and in ninth place, it appears that Otley are on course to avoid the same fate this around. With a run of four wins in their last five games, the Yorkshire side will want to continue their good recent form this weekend at Cross Green.

Macclesfield are set for an immediate return to National One. Having been relegated from the third tier of English rugby last year, they are firmly in the driving seat to win the National Two North title and are on the verge of securing a play-off spot, at the very least, this campaign.

After a run of seven straight wins, Macclesfield lead the division by 17 points and they are 24 points clear of the teams chasing a play-off place. All the Blues need to do this weekend is come away from Yorkshire with two points or more to seal a top two finish. I am sure that won’t be on the mind of Coach Giles Heagerty as he will be keen for his side to maintain their focus as promotion and the title draw closer.  

Sedgley Park v Sandal

Sedgley Park’s season has been a strong one as expected. The club, who finished third last season behind runaway leaders Hull Ionians and Ampthill & District, now look set for a shot at National One this year as they currently sit second in National Two North, seven points clear of the chasing play-off pack.

A 48-5 victory over Chester last week was aided by defeats for Leicester Lions and Stourbridge, which means Sedge now have control on that play-off spot once again. There will be an edge to this fixture against Sandal this weekend as the Yorkshire club refused to play at Park Lane at the end of January as they claimed the pitch was unplayable when they arrived.

Nevertheless, Sedge will purely be focused on picking up from where they left off against Chester as they go in search of their 17^th win of the campaign.

Sandal travel to Manchester this weekend as a side struggling towards the bottom of the National Two North table. The club were promoted to this division for this season and after a surprisingly bright start to the campaign, they currently occupy 13^th place in table and are only out of the bottom three on ‘Games Won.’

At one stage, the men from Milnethorpe Green were in the top four having won six of their opening eight games, but since then, it has gone downhill for Sandal. Having lost 20-24 to Preston Grasshoppers last week, Sandal have now only won one of their last nine games and they are desperate for an upturn in form. They did beat Sedgley Park back in October and a repeat of that result would be extremely welcome for Sandal.

South Leicester v Preston Grasshoppers

South Leicester are now in serious trouble in National Two North this season. After winning promotion last year, they have managed to keep their heads above water for the majority of the season; until now. They currently sit 14^th in the table meaning they are in the bottom three after their narrow defeat to Otley last week. South now have six games to save themselves from an immediate return to National Three.

That loss to Otley five days ago was their sixth in their last nine matches and after Sale FC’s win over Huddersfield, it meant the men from Welford Road dropped into the relegation zone. If they avoid defeat against Preston Grasshoppers, they could be out of the bottom three come Saturday night.

Preston Grasshoppers, at one stage, looked as though they would be embroiled with South Leicester in a relegation fight. Garth Dew’s men were languishing towards the bottom three in the earlier stages of the campaign, but some good form has seen them move into the top half of the table, eight points away from the drop.

That said, Hoppers put an end to a four game losing streak in their last game against Sandal and with the bottom half of this league been as tight as it is, it is important that Preston follow that win up with another away triumph this weekend.

Huddersfield v Luctonians

Huddersfield’s season has been a tough one. The men from Lockwood Park ended the last campaign in a very respectable eighth place in the table after promotion from National Three North. However, this year hasn’t followed suit. They currently sit bottom of National Two North and it looks as though relegation is on the horizon.

‘Field currently sit 21 points from safety with six games to play and regardless of the other results this weekend, the Yorkshire side will not be relegated on Saturday. If they were to lose to the Luctonians though, there time would be nearly up in National Two North so they will need a big performance to extend their stay for slightly longer.

On the other hand, Herefordshire outfit the Luctonians are still fighting to avoid relegation from National Two North, but it looks as though they are more than capable of achieving that. In fact, a top-half finish seems more likely than relegation at this stage as the Lucts have won 10 of their last 13 games.

At one point this season, Alex Davidson’s side were in deep trouble in the bottom three, but this run which they have been on since the end of November, has been sensational. After overcoming a resilient Broadstreet outfit last Saturday, they’ll want a similar outcome against another side in the bottom three this weekend.