National One: Hartpury stay cool as early race for top spot heats up

Hartpury College stay top of National Two for a second week after a win over Henley Hawks as the race for that all important first place spot continues to hot up.

Wins for Blackheath, Richmond, Esher and Rosslyn Park meant that Hartpury couldn’t afford to give them an inch in week seven.

Elsewhere, Fylde made it back to back wins while Plymouth Albion and Darlington Mowden Park secured welcome victories.

Henley Hawks 0-46 Hartpury College

League leaders Hartpury College maintained their stay at the top of National One with a commanding second half performance against Henley Hawks who were completely blown away be they visitors.

A penalty from the inform Gareth Thompson gave Hartpury the finest of leads at the break after Henley had begun this contest on the front foot. However, after the break, the floodgates opened.  

Jonas Mikalcius ran in four tries as the away side were rampant as scores from Sebastian Negri Da Oleggion, Tim Brockett and Georg Boulton rounded off an eye catching second half display.

Blackheath 27-24 Wharfedale

After speaking to Blackheath fly-half Freddie Gabbitass last week, he emphasised his side must stay focused against Wharfedale and they did exactly that as they battled hard for this win with Gabbitass’ late penalty clinching victory.

It was Gabbitass' kicking that Blackheath turned to as he struck four penalties before they fell behind to Wharfedale who had scored three tries through flanker Christopher Howick (2) and Ian Larkin entering the final 20 minutes.  

A James Guy drop goal gave the away side a 17-24 lead with 13 minutes to go before Simon Whatling levelled the scores two minutes later. Gabbitass then held his nerve in the final minute to clinch the win for Heath who move up to second in the table.

Esher 40-14 Hull Ionians

Esher now occupy a top three spot after their win over Hull Ionians. The visitors had started brightly thanks to an early try from Aqulie Smith and a Penalty Try.

However, Esher showed why they are bang in form as they took this game by the scruff of the neck. Five unanswered tries from Ross Neale, Andrew Garner, Oliver Mines, a Penalty Try and Spencer Sutherland saw Esher to their third straight victory.

Cinderford 20-43 Richmond

Richmond continued their recent good form and moved fourth in table after a comfortable win over struggling Cinderford.

But it was Cinderford who took a lead into the break as a try from Harrison Yorke and eight points from the boot of Callum Sheedy gave them a 13-10 advantage.

However, the tables turned in the second 40 as Richmond ran in five tries via Samuel Stewart, a double from Christopher Davies, Cameron Mitchell and James Thompson as Richmond are now within a victory of the leaders.

Rosslyn Park 17-10 Ampthill

Rosslyn Park ended two straight defeats with an excellent win over Ampthill thanks to an injury time try from Adam Frampton.

Both sides were evenly matched for large parts of the game and when Ampthill camped themselves on their own try line, it looked Rosslyn were never going to get past when the scores were at 10-10 after 68 minutes.

But a last gasp try from Frampton saw Park move sixth.

Coventry 24-36 Fylde

After a difficult start to the season for Fylde, they made it back to back wins against a strong Coventry side at the Butts Park Arena.

Tries from Oliver Brennand, Daniel Maher and Scott Rawlings gave Fylde a 22-3 halftime advantage.

Coventry hit back straight after the restart as Callum MacBurnie scored a try but Maher and Brennand went over again to give Fylde a 10-36 lead.

Devlin Hope and George Oliver brought the game back to 24-36 with a minute to go, but the match ended on bad note for Coventry as Wayne Evans received a second yellow card.

Blaydon 33-38 Plymouth Albion

Plymouth Albion picked up a much needed victory against bottom club Blaydon  whose performances over the last couple of weeks have certainly improved.

The away side led 21-28 at the break after a first half which contained seven tries.

Billy Searle (2), Thomas Bedford and Nile Decreas dotted down for Plymouth while Thomas Grimes and a brace from Jason Smithson were the scorers for the hosts.

Plymouth winger Ethan Ford made it 21-33 nine minutes into the second half with a nicely taken try, before Blaydon once again responded, this time through Keith Laughlin.

Thomas Putt slotted over a penalty on 71 minutes for Plymouth and Smithson’s hat-trick set up a grandstand last two minutes, but Albion had done enough for victory.

Darlington Mowden Park 39-16 Loughborough Students

After five away games already this season, Darlington Mowden Park showed exactly what they can do at home as they picked up maximum points at home to Loughborough Students.

Garry Law scored 10 first half points for DMP to give his side a narrow half-time lead, but the home team ran riot in the second half as scores from Joshua Redfern, Michael Tait, James Barnard, Peter Homan and Simon Uzokwe gave a Darlington a much needed win and boost.