Front runners hoping home advantage can maintain winning starts

After two rounds of National Two North action, four teams are yet to experience that losing feeling and all four clubs will be hoping it stays that way in their home fixtures this weekend.

Sale FC, Stourbridge, Sedgley Park and Leicester Lions are all on their own patches this Saturday as they look to continue their solid and unbeaten starts to the 2016/17 season.

Elsewhere, Caldy will be looking to make it back to back wins when they travel to Scunthorpe while Preston Grasshoppers aim to bounce back from defeat. Also, Wharfedale will be looking for their maiden win since relegation from National One while Harrogate and South Leicester go head to head as both continue to search of their first win of the campaign.

Sale FC v Tynedale

Sale FC have enjoyed a very strong start to this National Two North campaign. Having won both of their opening fixtures so far, where they have accumulated nine points, the men from Heywood Road currently sit top of the tree after two rounds of action.

After winning 27-3 in their opening match at home against Otley, Sale made it back to back wins last Saturday as they brushed aside new boys Hinckley. Despite staying in this division on the final day of last term, Sale have started this season brilliantly and they will be wanting to keep up their winning ways this weekend.

Tynedale have endured a mixed start to the season in National Two North following a tough campaign last year. After finishing ninth, Tyne began this term with a narrow defeat to Leicester Lions, but bounced back from that disappointment with an excellent win against Harrogate on their return to Corbridge.

The North-East outfit will now be looking to kick on from their victory last weekend and open their account on the road for this season. Scott Lawson’s men won just three of their 15 away matches last season so victory over Sale FC tomorrow would be a great result and could signal a change in fortunes for Tyne.

Stourbridge v Sheffield Tigers

Stourbridge were seemingly back to their best last term in National Two North as they were once again challenging for promotion. Three seasons ago, Stour finished second, but lost in the play-off while last year they finished fourth so Neil Mitchell will be hoping his side can overcome the final hurdle this time around and gain another shot at National One.

It has been an excellent start for the Midlands outfit as they’ve picked up two wins from two against South Leicester and the Luctonians. Four defeats from their last 16 at Stourton Park is something that will add to the confidence of this squad and Stour will be hoping for another win this weekend.

This season is Sheffield Tigers’ first in National Two North since 2013/14. The Tigers spent two years re-building their way back up into the fourth tier and finally achieved promotion as they romped to the National Three North title last term.

Life back in this division has already been mixed for the men from Dore Moor. Sheffield were beaten by the Luctonians on the opening day of the season before they thrashed Scunthorpe six days ago to pick up their first victory of the campaign. This fixture with Stourbridge represents their first away game of the term and the Tigers lost just three matches on their travels last season. They will be looking to keep that positive record up this Saturday.

Sedgley Park v Otley

Sedgley Park are once again showing that they will be a force this season in National Two North. Having finished third and second in the last two campaigns, Sedge are looking to push on and challenge for the title this term and they are certainly one of the sides capable of doing just that.

After a hard-fought 16-13 win over Caldy in their league opener, Dean Scofield’s men put in a much more assured performance last weekend as they beat Preston Grasshoppers 33-22 away from home. Sedge are back at Park Lane this Saturday where they have lost just eight of their last 31 matches. Can they pick up another home triumph this weekend?

Otley have already experienced the highs and lows of National Two North in the opening couple of weeks of the season. The men from Cross Green lost to Sale in their first fixture of the new campaign, but came away from Wharfedale with an excellent win last weekend to kick start their season.

Inconsistency was one of the reasons why Otley struggled to break into the top three or four spots last term and they will be keen to avoid a similar pattern of results this time around. This will be Otley’s second away fixture in as many weeks and the Yorkshire outfit will be looking for another victory on the road this Saturday.

Leicester Lions v Luctonians

Leicester Lions have once again got another season off to a very positive start. The Midlands club had a strong campaign last year which saw them finish third and two wins from two to begin this term is exactly what Andy Key and his side would’ve wanted.

The Lions have left it late to secure the victories though. A narrow win at home to Tynedale on the opening day was followed by a dramatic last-gasp derby day triumph over South Leicester six days ago. As the saying goes, a win is a win, but Leicester will be hoping for some more comfortable victories as the season goes on. They are back at Westleigh Park this Saturday where they have lost one of their last 16 matches so they will fancy their chances of making it a hat-trick of wins to start this campaign. Added to this, new signings prop Aniseko Sio & No8 Danny Hartwell get there first start for the Lions tomorrow.

The Luctonians were a side fighting for their National Two North status at the end of the 2014/15 season but they do look as though they have taken a step forwards over the last 24 months. They did begin the last campaign in wretched form but a resurgence in the second half of last year saw the Herefordshire club finish in a surprising, but well deserved, sixth place.

The Lucts got this term off to a great start as they beat Sheffield Tigers away from home, but defeat at Mortimer Park last weekend against Stourbridge ended a run of just six defeats in 21 matches. Alex Davidson said after that loss that his side still need to improve and they will have to be at their best to come away from Leicester with a victory this weekend.

Scunthorpe v Caldy

Scunthorpe have already been through a rollercoaster of emotions following promotion to National Two North in May. The Yorkshire outfit topped National Three Midlands to earn their spot in this division, but have experienced a mixed start to life in the fourth tier of English rugby.

Tim Robinson’s side welcome Caldy to Heslam Park this weekend on the back of a heavy defeat to fellow newly-promoted side Sheffield Tigers, but did begin the season with a home win over Chester. Scunthorpe have won 13 of their last 14 matches in front of their own supporters as they look to respond this Saturday from their disappointing loss six days ago.

Simon Verbickas and his coaching staff would have been content with Caldy’s efforts in National Two North last season. A fifth place finish and a decent challenge for a top two spot was certainly positive, but it was inconsistency in results that halted them from finishing any higher in the division.

It seemed like that was the case in 2014/15 as well and Caldy will be looking to avoid that from happening again this term. A defeat to Sedgley Park followed by their maiden win of the season against Chester last Saturday is already a mixed start to the campaign, however both of those matches have been away from Paton Fields. Once again, they are on their travels this Saturday as they look for back to back wins.

Chester v Preston Grasshoppers

Chester have not begun the season the way they would’ve wanted to. Last year saw them finish in a disappointing 11th place and this campaign, it seems like the same problems still exist at Hare Lane. Chester are winless after the first two weeks of the season thanks to defeats against Scunthorpe and Caldy and now they must dust themselves down  and prepare for another home fixture on Saturday.

Chester have lost 11 of their last 16 matches on home soil which is certainly one of the main factors in their decline since the 2014/15 season where they finished in fifth place. Their last home win came against Sale FC on April 9^th and it is vital that they stop the rot at Hare Lane or it could spell trouble for the Cheshire side.

Preston Grasshoppers are no doubt hoping they can push on once again this season after another campaign of progression last term. Garth Dew is building something at Lightfoot Green and after a 10^th place finish last year, Preston will be aiming for a top-half spot this time around.

They began this season with a fine win away at Wharfedale, but they were second best against Sedgley Park last weekend which leaves them mid-table in this embryonic stage of the campaign. Hoppers won four games on the road last term, but they may well fancy their chances of getting a result this weekend against a Chester side desperately short of confidence.

Wharfedale v Hinckley

Wharfedale are hoping to bounce back to National One at the first time of asking following relegation from the third tier of English rugby for the first time in 10 years. Dale put up a brave fight towards the back end of last season, but now they must focus on rebuilding as they look for an immediate return this season.

The Skipton based club’s start to the campaign hasn’t been the best. They lost at home to Preston on the opening day and were beaten by Otley at Cross Green last weekend. Last season, Dale and their opponents on Saturday, Hinckley, were separated by two divisions so James Doherty may feel like this is the best opportunity for his side to gain their first victory of the campaign.

Hinckley were promoted to National Two North last season via the National Three North play-off. Having lost at that stage the year before to Sale FC, Hinckley are now in the fourth tier and looking to take their momentum from that excellent campaign into this term.

It is fair to say that Paul Walsh’s men have had an intriguing start to life in this division. They began in superb style with a win over Harrogate away from home but came crashing back down to earth six days ago as they were humbled by Sale FC. Hinckley have lost seven of their last 27 matches on the road, but this will be a tough test when they travel to Yorkshire on Saturday.

Harrogate v South Leicester

Harrogate are hoping to gain their first win of the new season this weekend after a miserable start to campaign. After a below-par season last term, ‘Gate would have been hoping to start well that they this season but that simply hasn’t happened.

They were stunned by Hinckley at Rudding Lane on the opening day before being edged out by Caldy last weekend leaving them winless after two rounds of action. Harrogate are back at home this Saturday where they have won nine of their last 16 matches and they need to pick up that winning habit once again otherwise any desires of a strong season will fizzle out.

Their opponents this weekend are a South Leicester outfit who suffered heartbreak last weekend. A late Sam Benjamin try saw Leicester Lions snatch the derby bragging rights away from South who were minutes away from their first win of the season.

Last year, South flirted with relegation on numerous occasions, but a flurry of victories in the final two months of the campaign saved them from the trapdoor. Despite a win eluding them so far this term, South will take plenty of positives into this fixture with Harrogate and they will certainly think they have the capabilities of getting their maiden win of the campaign this weekend in Yorkshire.