Preston off the bottom of National Two North

Preston Grasshoppers sealed their first win in seven matches to move off the bottom of National Two North.

Garth Dew’s men were superb in their victory over Otley and now Preston find themselves nine points from safety with a game in hand. Fellow strugglers Sheffield Tigers slipped to yet another defeat, but there were victories for Wharfedale and Harrogate.

Elsewhere towards the bottom, Scunthorpe were beaten by Leicester Lions while at the right end of the table, Caldy made it 12 wins on the spin, Jonny Matthews inspired Sedgley Park to victory and Tynedale left it late against Chester.

Caldy 47-22 Hinckley

Caldy secured their 12^th consecutive National Two North victory as they beat Hinckley to maintain their 10-point lead at the top of the table.

Simon Verbickas’ side has not lost since the opening day of the season but seven tries and fly-half Jack Lavin’s 10 points from the tee extended their unbeaten run to 19 matches.

Two second-half tries from Ewan Bennett and Callum Rowe sealed a bonus-point for Chris Campbell’s men in another valiant display against one of the top six sides.

Both sides exchanged two tries apiece in the first period before Rhys Hayes crossed for the hosts to give them a 21-12 lead at the break.

George Cox and Mitch Lamb had touched down for Hinckley, but the visitors saw the game slip away from them as Nick Royle and Tom Banks went over early in the second-half.

Bennett got one back for the away side, but Lavin and Banks saw Caldy extend lead before Hinckley salvaged a bonus-point late on.

Harrogate 19-12 Stourbridge

Harrogate battled hard to secure a deserved third victory in a row as they beat promotion candidates Stourbridge at Rudding Lane.

David Doherty’s early try was cancelled out almost immediately by Dan Rundle’s score in an evenly contested first-half .

Harrogate went in front after the break as Harry Barnard touched down, but once again it was quickly followed by a Stour response as Stefan Thorpe crossed the whitewash just before the hour.

The hosts held a slender two point lead as Thorpe’s try was not converted but they ultimately clinched victory as Olly Rosillo latched on to a superb pass from Doherty to  score the crucial try on 74 minutes which continued Harrogate’s remarkable upturn in form.

Scunthorpe 15-17 Leicester Lions

Leicester Lions returned to winning ways in National Two North as they held off a spirited fightback to claim victory over Scunthorpe.

Tries from Liam Hills and Jamal Hamilton put Leicester Lions 10-5 in front at half-time after Ash Dibden had opened the scoring for Scunthorpe.

The Lions’ lead was wiped out as James Dyson barged his way over following a catch and drive to level the scores up.

But shortly after, the Marco Dellavalle went over to put Leicester Lions seven points ahead.

Scunthorpe refused to roll over in this contest as Jack Barron dotted down from close range, but the Lincolnshire side failed to convert and despite waves of pressure on the Lions line in the final stages of this contest, the hosts could not snatch the victory as Leicester held on for the win.

Sedgley Park 21-10 South Leicester

A hat-trick from Jonny Matthews helped Sedgley Park end a run of two straight defeats as they beat South Leicester at Park Lane.

Matthews’ first two tries came inside 12 minutes as the home side began on the front foot, but South were unable to come back from their slow start.

The Sedge hooker  then claimed his hat-trick and his 21^st try of the season as the hosts secured their ninth victory in front of their own supporters, while it was a third away defeat on the spin for seventh placed South.

Chester 10-11 Tynedale

Ash Smith’s late penalty snatched victory for Tynedale over Chester as the hosts slipped to their first defeat of 2017.

Tynedale posed all the attacking threat early in the first-half which resulted in Smith landing a penalty on 11 minutes, but the visitors were 7-3 behind at the break as Chester captain Guy Ford crashed over.

Both sides began the second period looking to fashion clear-cut chances and it was Tyne that went ahead once again as Oli Walker pounced on a kick through to score an unconverted try.

However, their lead lasted for just five minutes as Callum Bennett slotted over a penalty for the hosts.

Tyne then piled on the pressure for the remaining 14 minutes of this contest and were awarded a penalty in the dying embers of the match. Smith held his nerve to knock over the penalty to secure a third win in four matches for Tynedale.

Preston Grasshoppers 30-5 Otley

Preston Grasshoppers moved off the bottom of the National Two North table as they secured a superb victory over Otley.

Tries in the second-half by second row Chris Roddy and Corey Logan sealed Hoppers’ first win in seven matches.

Garth Dew’s men were in complete control of this contest from the first whistle and carried a 16-0 lead into the break thanks to three penalties from Lewis Allen and a score from Matt Frings.

Preston’s superiority continued after the break as Roddy and Logan crossed before Otley had the final say when Luke Chadwick crashed over for a consolation score.

 Wharfedale 32-22 Luctonians

Wharfedale secured their sixth home win of the season as they claimed a bonus-point victory against Luctonains.

Josh Burridge and Harry Bullough scored first-half tries for Dale while Tom Barrett kicked 13 points to give the hosts a 23-5 lead at the break.

Louis Silver scored the Lucts’ only points in the opening 40 minutes, but the visitors mounted a comeback in the second period as a Penalty Try and score from Alex Smith brought them to within nine points of Wharfedale.

However, Barrett’s supreme kicking continued as he slotted over a penalty and a third drop-goal of the match to give Dale some breathing space, but the Lucts were able to secure a four-try bonus point as Joe White dotted down.

Dale then completed the scoring for the afternoon as Barett landed yet another penalty to wrap up a vital win for the Yorkshire side.