National Two North - Big Guns Fire

It certainly is a two horse race for the title with both Hull Ionians and Ampthill winning once again. Along with that, the top six were all victorious, Preston and Huddersfield played out a thriller and Broadstreet continued their remarkable turnaround.

Table toppers Hull Ionians made it eight straight wins as they beat a makeshift Stourbridge side 50-13 at Brantingham Park. This is the I’s 23rd consecutive win at home in this division and their eight try demolition of Stourbridge showed exactly why they have not lost for such a long time. Last time the two sides met in Yorkshire, Hull Ionians won by a narrow margin, but this time around, the game was up at half-time. This win firmly showed Hull Ionians’ credentials for this season as they stay top of the league, but for Stourbridge this was a tough afternoon. Apparently, they are scraping a squad together due to injuries and unavailability’s but they remain eighth in the table. Stour may want this Christmas break to come sooner rather than later.

Ampthill and District remain on the coattails of Hull Ionians after they dominated the first half against a competitive Otley side and won the match 41-10 at Dillingham Park. This was the first meeting between the sides at 1st XV level and like Hull Ionians; Ampthill had secured their bonus point by half-time despite Otley having a fair share of possession and territory. Ampthill fly-half Joseph Tarrant produced a man of the match performance as he claimed 21 of the 41 points scored by the hosts which included a hat-trick. Ampthill are now three points behind Ionians and are unbeaten in their last seven. As for Otley, they have slipped down the league in recent weeks and are now seventh with just one win in their last four matches.
Coaches View
Ampthill Head Coach Paul Turner: “I was pleased with our first half, Otley's set piece was strong as expected but their open style behind the scrum caused us problems. Injury enforced absentees saw a number of players get opportunities and they delivered. We go into the Christmas period in good shape."

Chester returned back to winning ways after their defeat to Harrogate as they beat the Luctonians 32-24 at Hare Lane. Chester have had an inconsistent few weeks, but  remain third after this win despite a much improved performance by the Luctonians who have now lost their last six matches. Chester have lost just twice in ten, but are 13 points behind Ampthill.

A few weeks ago Caldy seemed to be on a decline, but with five wins in their last six they are now in fourth place as the edged out Birmingham and Solihull 20-24 at Portway on Saturday. Caldy have their forwards to thank after a superb second half performance by them secured just their second away win of the season and gives the Wirral side great impetus heading into the Christmas break. As for Birmingham and Solihull, they let a 17-7 first half lead slip after producing some great rugby, but yet again even though they are showing fight and determination, it was another ‘what if’ game for the Bees. They have performed well against strong opposition in recent weeks, but they are 13th in the table.

Sedgley Park continued their push back into the top four as they beat Hull 47-15. The Sedge pack was the key difference in this match despite a good effort from a Hull side who had been hit by recent injuries. The Tigers forwards were devastating at the set-piece and Hull could not deal with their power.  Excellent performances from Billy Emerson and Steve Collins helped them on their way to victory. It has been a rollercoaster month for Sedgley Park, but it looks like they are getting back to their best as they moved into fifth with this win. As for Hull, they are 14th with just one win in their last five.

All of the top five had secured victories and Harrogate added to that as they defeated Leicester Lions 25-5 at the County Ground. The hosts led 7-5 at half-time after a disjointed first 40 minutes, but did score two more tries after the break. Harrogate have only lost once in their last six and are level on points with Sedgley Park and Caldy as the top half remains tighter than ever. In terms of Leicester, they are in their worst run of form all season and have now lost their last three matches which has seen them drop to 12th in the league.

I highlighted that Preston Grasshoppers against Huddersfield could be game of the weekend and it certainly did not disappoint as the away side narrowly won 20-21 in Lancashire thanks to a last minute penalty by Joel Hinchliffe. It was an entertaining and enthralling game of rugby and this was a valuable win for Field as they ended a four game winless run. As for Preston. they thought they had won this match after turning around a 15 point deficit, but were undone by their own errors. Huddersfield are now ninth with Preston just a point behind in 10th.
Coaches’ View
Preston coach Garth Dew: That’s the third time we’ve lost a close game in the last minutes and it’s very frustrating. In the first half we allowed a team to come here and play a basic style of rugby and school us in how to play in National 2. Their 10 played it very simple, kicked well, turned us and waited for mistakes and penalties and it took us 60 minutes to start to play in the right areas.”
“We played all the rugby, but are still trying to force it from the wrong positions on the pitch. The pack was quality again and we have destroyed their scrum and were dominant with our driving maul and defending theirs, but for some reason with the final penalty we let them have the maul and infringed.”

Other than the top two the current form side in the division is Broadstreet. A few weeks ago they were in 15th with just two wins to their name, but they are now on a four game winning run which continued on Saturday as they came away from Stockport with a 3-39 victory.  Ashley Elvers and Joshua Palmer touched down to give Street a 3-15 half-time lead despite Stockport dominating possession. The visitors were then reduced to 13 men as Piere Ferre was shown a yellow card just before the break and Beau Carney shortly after, but Port were unable to take advantage of this. Broadstreet then grew in confidence an added three more tries during the second half through a penalty try, Carney and Elvers again to cap off a frustrating afternoon for the hosts. Broadstreet are now 11th after a fantastic few weeks with Port still bottom and rapidly losing their momentum which they picked up a few weeks ago.