Focus turns to battle at the bottom in National Two South
As exciting as National Two South has been towards the top of the table so far this season, the bottom half in this division seems to be getting closer and closer as we rapidly approach the final third of the campaign.
Once again this weekend we have a relegation clash with Canterbury travelling to Southend while the likes of the Redingensians and Chinnor are still very much alive and kicking in the fight for survival. In fact, only nine points separates Chinnor in 15th place and Barnes who currently occupy eighth position.
At the summit of the division, the Old Albanian will be looking to keep up their winning ways in order to keep hold of top spot while Cambridge, Bishops Stortford and even Taunton Titans continue to play catch-up in the race for a promotion place.
Bury St Edmunds v Old Albanian
Bury St Edmunds have already had a mixed season so far. Having been promoted last term into the fourth tier of English rugby, Bury are very much holding their own in this division, but are still just six points clear of the relegation zone.
The hosts this weekend lie 10th in the table – just three points outside the top half – and come into this fixture with the Old Albanian off the back of a defeat to Redruth last weekend. Bury will be hoping for a reaction on Saturday and their sixth home win of the season would be the perfect response.
The Old Albanian on the other hand are seemingly set for promotion back to National One this season. With just one defeat all campaign and 15 wins to their name already, the OA’s are in a wonderful position to finish in the top two this term and they’re currently top of the table, 12 points clear of third placed Bishops Stortford.
The OA’s have not been beaten since their defeat to Cambridge on October 3rd and are currently on a run of 12 straight victories. The league leaders thumped Southend Saxons last weekend so they’ll be coming into this encounter full of confidence and in a ruthless frame of mind.
Cambridge v Redruth
Cambridge are attempting to gain promotion to National One this season after what has been a remarkable campaign for them so far. The ‘Blood and Sand’ finished seventh last season and have built on that superbly this term as they find themselves in a strong enough position to push for a place in the third tier of English rugby.
As things stand, the men from Volac Park occupy second place in the table, five points behind leaders the Old Albanian. They need to stay on the coattails of the OA’s and another five points from this game will certainly keep the pressure on.
One thing you can say about Redruth this season is that they have been consistent. The Reds finished ninth last term, but have performed solidly so far this campaign and are going about their business very nicely indeed.
Although Redruth sit in fifth place and are 14 points away from the top two, they have won six of their last seven matches which means they travel to Cambridge this weekend in a confident mood. Cambridge lost their 100 per cent home record last time they played at Volac Park and Redruth may fancy their chances of inflicting back to back home defeats on their hosts.
Bishops Stortford v Chinnor
The team that ended Cambridge’s 100 per cent home record was Bishops Stortford and they have their eyes set on closing the gap between themselves and the promotion places. Stortford are currently third in the league and seven points behind the top two and know they must keep performing well if they are to have a shot at National One again this term.
Stortford have lost just one of their last nine matches and have a 100 per cent record at home this season so far. They’ll be hoping to stretch both of those runs this weekend as they look to take another step towards the promotion positions.
Chinnor have been disappointing this season. Following a sixth placed finish last term, Chinnor were considered to finish towards the top half of the table once again, but they are currently struggling in 15th place after 17 matches.
Recently however, Chinnor have performed slightly better as they were narrowly beaten by Cambridge last weekend and have picked up wins against Launceston and Barnes. They are only three points from safety and could move out of the bottom three by winning at Silver Leys this weekend.
Redingensians v Taunton Titans
The Redingensians are struggling towards the bottom of the table this season and are in the relegation zone at present, although they are only nine points off the top half. The Rams were promoted into this division for this term and have been flirting with the bottom three for most of the campaign.
The Redingensians have won five matches thus far with three of those victories coming at home. They do need a win from this encounter with Taunton on Saturday given that the Rams come into this match on the back of one victory in their last five games.
Taunton Titans are still fighting for promotion to National One despite a recent dip in form. The Titans currently sit in fourth place and will consider themselves still in the mix for a top two place even though they have suffered two defeats in their last three matches.
That said, the men from Hyde Park are 13 points behind Cambridge, but do have a game in hand. Two bonus points wins would put them right back into contention and Taunton will be raring to get going once again this weekend after their game against Launceston was postponed last Saturday.
Dorking v Old Elthamians
Dorking looked to have turned a corner in recent weeks as they are now mid-table in National Two South. Having finished fourth last season, Dorking were perhaps hoping to challenge for promotion once again this campaign, but that hasn’t been the case.
They have struggled to find consistency this term and as a result, Dorking unsurprisingly sit in ninth at this stage. Having said that, they have won two of their last three matches and may fancy their chances of securing their third home victory in a row this weekend.
The Old Elthamians season has been a mixed one. They started the season very positively picking up six wins from the first nine matches, but then their form took a dive as they went on a run of one victory in six games. Now though, the OE’s have begun 2016 with back to back wins and find themselves sixth in the table.
The OE’s managed to leapfrog Clifton into the top six after victory against the South Gloucestershire side last weekend and now have another away assignment this Saturday as they look to cement their position in the top half of the table.
Barnes v Clifton
Barnes have performed very well so far this season. With six wins to their name since promotion in this division, they are still on course to avoid relegation back down to National Three as they currently sit in eighth place and nine points clear of the bottom three.
Having earned a draw against Worthing Raiders last Saturday and an excellent victory over Taunton on the first weekend of the New Year, Barnes continue to stay in touch with the top half of the table. They will be going in search of their sixth home win of the season this Saturday as they look to distance themselves further from the relegation zone.
Clifton are battling to keep their place in the top eight of the table at the moment. They currently sit in seventh place, one point behind the Old Elthamians but just eight points inside the top half, in what has been a satisfactory season to date for the South Gloucestershire outfit.
They had been flying high, but recent form has been a little shaky. Clifton have lost six of their last seven matches and they have only won one away fixture all season. This will be the perfect time for them to bounce back and halt their slide before they make losing an unwanted habit.
Launceston v Worthing Raiders
Launceston are hoping to finally get their 2016 up and running this weekend. Their first two fixtures of the New Year were both been postponed, but they know they will need a massive turnaround in results to stand a chance of staying in this division as they currently sit bottom of the table without a win to their name all season.
After 15 games, Launceston have lost 14 and drawn one and currently find themselves 24 points adrift at the foot of National Two South. A miracle maybe needed to keep them in the division, but a first win in 17 league matches (including two from the end of last season) will be a perfect start to the second half of the season for Launceston.
Worthing Raiders’ season has been a strange one. Although they finished fifth last term and have shown, in flashes, what they are capable of this year, they’ve really struggled to find the consistency which we saw at the back end of the last campaign which allowed them to finish in the top five.
The Raiders are currently 11th in the table having won just six games this season. Worthing are only three points off the relegation zone and may still be deflated after throwing away a comfortable lead against Barnes last weekend. The perfect response would be a third away win of the season against the division’s bottom club.
Southend Saxons v Canterbury
Southend Saxons are really struggling for form at the minute and are finding wins very hard to come by. Given that they stayed up on the last day of last season, perhaps the best they can wish for is a bottom half finish and that’s where they sit at the moment in 12th position.
However, they are in danger of falling into another relegation battle have just one win in their last eight matches. Their recent run of results was compounded by a thrashing at the hands of the Old Albanian last week which leaves the Saxons just two points clear of the drop zone. This weekend’s fixture against fellow relegation rivals Canterbury may well be labelled as a ‘must win’ by Southend.
The same could be said about Canterbury as they continue to fight their way out of trouble. Back to backs win have relieved some of the pressure on the City Men as they moved out of the bottom three last weekend and now face another relegation crunch match on Saturday.
Canterbury are currently a point behind Southend in 13th place having won six games this year and they also do have a game in hand. Canterbury head to Warners Bridge Park in search of their fourth away triumph of the season and if they were to achieve this, their relegation worries would be eased once again.
