National League Two North Preview - November 1st 2014
Leaders Ampthill and District may be top of National Two North, but are now probably looking over their shoulders following the recent form of Chester. Along with this, Hull Ionians are now back level on points with the Milton Keynes side making this another exciting weekend of National Two action.
Ampthill travel to the Luctonians tomorrow who currently sit on the cusp of the top half of the table. They will take confidence into the match after their second win in as many games last weekend against Stockport.
Hull Ionians will be hoping to maintain their 100 per cent record at home as they welcome Preston Grasshoppers to Humberside. The hosts have won on the last two occasions the teams have met and beat the Lancashire outfit 33-20 in January of last year when Preston last visited Brantingham Park.
Chester are without a doubt the form side in the division. Having won four of their last five games including wins against Ampthill and Sedgley Park, they now take on Birmingham and Solihull this weekend. The B’s put in a solid performance last weekend against Hull Ionians despite having a number of injuries and will be hoping they can take the sting out of this Chester side high on confidence.
Another side oozing confidence is Otley who find themselves in the top four for the first time this season. They travel to the Wirral to face a Caldy side that are stark contrast to Otley. Caldy have lost their last two, but may look for inspiration from the last time the teams clashed with the hosts narrowly winning 26-25 at Telegraph Road.
Arguably, the game of the weekend is Harrogate v Sedgley Park as sixth host fifth in the division. Harrogate were thrashed last weekend by Ampthill, but did have food poising in the week leading up to the game. Sedgley Park have lost their last two and can feel the title and promotion slowly slipping away from them. Last time the pair met at the County Ground, Sedgley came away with a 28-37 victory. They will want a repeat of that tomorrow.
Hull visit Leicester Lions this Saturday going into the game with a better record over the last five games then their hosts. Despite Leicester sitting in eight and Hull 13th, its Hull who have picked up more points in recent weeks meaning this game is certainly up for grabs.
Into the bottom half and the crunch match has to be Stourbridge against Stockport. The home side find themselves in their lowest ever league position in National Two North history whilst Stockport are still looking for their first win of the season. Port have had a huge amount of injuries and have played six of the top eight already this campaign. They will be targeting this weekend to get off the mark for the season.
And finally, Huddersfield host Broadstreet. The visitors will be hoping that last weekend’s first home victory over Stourbridge wasn’t a fluke as Huddersfield will be looking to climb into the top half of the table on Saturday with a victory.
