Hoppers halt Stourbridge charge
Two of the form sides in Round 19 of National Two North faced off last weekend as Preston Grasshoppers hosted Stourbridge and it was the home side who came out on top thanks to a dominant display.
Stourbridge remain third after suffering their second loss in just their last 10 matches while Preston have now lost just one of their previous eight games.
Above Stour in the table are league leaders Macclesfield who were back playing National Two North rugby again after two weeks off due to postponements and the table toppers tasted victory for the first time this year.
Relegation threatened Huddersfield and Broadstreet were left heartbroken as they were beaten by just a single point in their matches while Chester and Harrogate were also edged out by Otley and Leicester Lions respectively.
Elsewhere, Tynedale are now nine points clear of the drop after a win over Sale FC who may well be starting to look over their shoulder nervously as they slipped to another defeat.
South Leicester 13-32 Macclesfield
Macclesfield wiped away the cobwebs to secure a bonus-point victory at South Leicester to remain 10 points clear at the top of National Two North.
The Blues hadn’t played since the beginning of the month after their last two matches were postponed, but the league leaders claimed their first win of 2016 on Saturday.
Tries from David Marwick and Francis Barker gave Macclesfield the early lead but two yellow cards opened the door for South to find a way back into the contest.
Marwick and then Thomas Mantell were sent to the sin-bin meaning Macc were down to 13 men and the hosts didn’t pass up the opportunity to exploit that as Chris Gibbs went over.
Tom Eaton kicked a penalty for Macclesfield to stretch their lead further, but Wesley Cope’s try on 36 minutes made it 12-15 at half-time.
But that was as good as it got for South Leicester as Macclesfield proved too strong for the Midlands side in the second period.
Eaton added another penalty before Ryan Parkinson scored a brace after good work by the Macc forwards to ensure the five points for the Cheshire side.
Luctonians 10-35 Sedgley Park
Sedgley Park moved back up to second place in National Two North after comfortably beating the Luctonians as ill-discipline cost the home side.
The Lucts received three yellow cards throughout the match which Sedgley profited on as they scored 15 points when the hosts were reduced to 14 men.
An early Louis Silver penalty had given the Luctonians the lead, but tries from Daniel Waddy and Jamie Harrison plus a penalty from Stephen Collins put Sedge in control on 26 minutes.
Alexander James was the first man in the sin-bin for the Lucts, but the away side could only manage another three points from the boot of Collins in the absence of James.
Collins made it a hat-trick from the tee on the stroke of half-time to give Sedgley a 3-23 lead which meant it was key for the Luctonians to start quickly in the second period.
However, replacement Daniel Smith was shown a yellow card just two minutes after the restart for Lucts and 60 seconds later, hooker Jonny Matthews dotted down to extend the visitors’ lead.
On the hour, Lucts got their first score of the day as Owen Davies crossed, but once again they were almost immediately back down to 14 men as John Kelly was the latest player to be sent to the sin-bin.
It was the turn of Callum McShane to punish the hosts as he dived over to wrap up the bonus point and the victory for Sedgley.
Preston Grasshoppers 29-18 Stourbridge
Stourbridge suffered just their second defeat in 10 games as they were beaten by an in-form Preston Grasshoppers at Lightfoot Green.
The Hoppers have now lost just one of their last eight matches and will have Sean Taylor to thank for their latest victory as he kicked 19 points in this contest.
The full-back opened the scoring from the tee after just two minutes, but Garth Dew’s men were behind shortly after as a penalty from Rod Petty and a try from Nathan Bressington gave Stour the lead.
Preston had to wait until the 24th minute to go back in front as Alastair Murray crossed which was duly converted by Taylor.
And Taylor gave his side a 13-8 half-time lead as he knocked over his second penalty of the afternoon.
Taylor added nine more points to his and Preston’s tally before the hour mark as he landed three penalties, two of which came after Stourbridge lock Robert Hurrell was sin-binned.
It looked as though Stour’s day was going from bad to worse when Joseph Heatley joined his team-mate in the sin-bin on 60 minutes, but even with 13 men, they managed to score their second try as Tobias Handley touched down from close range.
But Preston remained in control of proceedings and sewed the game up when Murray broke away down the right for his second score of the match which Taylor once again converted.
That proved to be Taylor’s last action of this clash as he was yellow carded with five minutes remaining before Connor Nicholls scored a late consolation for Stourbridge.
Broadstreet 14-15 Caldy
A late Nicholas Royle try snatched victory for Caldy at Broadstreet as the Wirral side are now six points off the promotion places.
‘Street were actually ahead at the break as a try and two penalties from fly-half Lee Chapman cancelled out Royle’s first try of the day and a penalty from Gavin Roberts on the stroke of half-time.
Chapman stretched the home sides lead to 14-10 on 43 minutes before he was yellow carded just before the hour.
And despite being reduced to 14 men, the hosts battled hard to keep Caldy at bay, but their solid resistance was finally broken with just two minutes remaining as Royle touched down to break Broadstreet hearts and secure Caldy’s second win of 2016.
Broadstreet’s losing bonus point leaves them in the bottom three and they are now eight points from safety, but they do have a game in hand.
Harrogate 12-13 Leicester Lions
Another late try was the story of this encounter as Devon Constant’s score four minutes from time gave Leicester Lions just their second away win of the season.
Harrogate led 5-3 at half-time thanks to a try from winger Samuel Bottomley with the Lions’ response coming from Jonathan Williams in a cagey opening 40 minutes at Ruddling Lane.
The same pattern followed after the interval with no side really taking a foothold in the match with the only score coming via the boot of Williams to give Leicester the lead on 50 minutes.
But this contest sparked into life with 12 minutes remaining as Callum Irvine crossed for ‘Gate on 68 minutes to give them a 12-6 advantage.
However, that wasn’t the last of the action as Constant snatched the win away from the hosts as his try, followed by Williams’ conversion, secured the victory for Leicester which leaves them eight points behind Sedgley Park.
Otley 20-19 Chester
19 points from Rhys Hayes wasn’t enough for Chester to make it three straight wins to begin the New Year as they were beaten by Otley at Cross Green
Tries from Benjamin Steele and Matthew Heaton as well as a penalty from the reliable Stephen Depledge nudged the home side in front at the break with Chester’s response coming in the form of three penalties from full-back Hayes.
Depledge’s try after half-time powered Otley into a 20-9 lead before Chester hit back swiftly through another penalty from Hayes.
And it was Hayes again who dragged his side back into contention as his try and conversion five minutes from the end set up a grandstand finished, but the Otley held out for the win.
Sandal 13-12 Huddersfield
Fly-half Greg Wood scored a late try as Sandal beat Huddersfield to arrest a run of four straight defeats.
Huddersfield prop Alexander Battye looked as though he had won it for the away side after his two tries either side of half-time.
But Wood, who scored all 13 of Sandal’s points, touched down with eight minutes remaining to clinch the much needed win for the hosts.
Huddersfield’s frustration got the better of them straight after Wood’s try as Nicholas Sharpe was sent off and this defeat for the men from Lockwood Park leaves them 10 points adrift at the bottom of National Two North.
Tynedale 21-16 Sale FC
Tynedale are now nine points clear of the relegation zone after beating Sale FC at Kingston Park.
Tyne have been relocated to the home of the Newcastle Falcons after the floods which hit the country last month have ruined their pitches and clubhouse, but this win will be a much needed boost for the north-east side who have this week, appointment Scotland and Newcastle hooker Scott Lawson as their new Head of Rugby.
Tynedale went in front thanks to two Ashley Smith penalties, but they were cancelled out by a drop-goal and a penalty from Liam McGovern to level things up on 24 minutes.
But the home side hit back through an Oliver Walker try to lead at half-time.
Walker went over again to extend their advantage after the restart before Smith and McGovern exchanged penalties once more to leave the score at 21-9.
Both sides were then shown yellow cards as Tyne’s Benjamin Duncan followed Sale’s James Purcell into the sin-bin and it was the visitors from Manchester that got the first score with both teams down to 14 men.
Centre Thomas Davenport sliced his way through the Tyne defence to touch down and that proved to be the last score of the game as Tyne held out to celebrate victory while Sale are now without a win since December 12th.
