Sedgley snatch a late draw to go top

Sedgley Park just about maintained their unbeaten start to the National Two North season as a share of the points in Round Five moved them to the top of the table.

A late try earned them a draw at home against a battling Tynedale which was enough to take them to the summit as Stourbridge were beaten by Leicester Lions at Westleigh Park.

Elsewhere, Caldy moved second as they extended their unbeaten run to four matches, while Chester, Sheffield Tigers, Wharfedale and Scunthorpe all returned to winning ways.

Sedgley Park 24-24 Tynedale

Sedgley Park scored a late try to preserve their unbeaten start to the season and claim a draw in an entertaining game at home to Tynedale at Park Lane.

Leading 19-15, the hosts were behind heading into the final seven minutes of this encounter thanks to a brace from Henry Hadfield and tries via Will Miller and Ben Haigh.

Sedge had led this contest by seven points at the break, but had to dig deep to claim a share of the spolis as they secured a late try to snatch a draw which was enough for them to move top of the National Two North table.

Caldy 34-3 Otley

Caldy ruthlessly secured a bonus-point win over Otley at Paton Fields, seizing second place in National Two North on points difference after this victory.

The visitors could not handle a rampant home side with tries coming from Rhys Hayes, Forbes Edwards and Nick Royle.

Jack Stagg scored Caldy’s fourth, with lock Tom Sanders bagging a fifth. Tom Hodson scored Otley’s only points with a penalty on 19 minutes.

Sale FC 31-18 Luctonians

Sale FC returned to winning ways as they fought back in the final quarter of this encounter to seal a bonus-point win over the Luctonians.

Jack Conville crossed on his debut for Sale, but a penalty from Louis Silver and a Penalty Try gave the Lucts a 10-5 half-time lead.

The home side found it hard going in the opening stages of the second period as the Luctonians extended their advantage with Silver nudging over a penalty and Jordan Street scoring a try.

But, Sale responded emphatically as they turned around a 13 point deficit thanks to scores from Jack Moorhouse, Tom Ailes and Matt Postlehwaite to secure the victory.

Leicester Lions 37-13 Stourbridge

Stourbridge’s perfect start to the season was brought to a shuddering halt as they were beaten by Leicester Lions despite the hosts being down 14 men in the final quarter of this contest.

Drew Rudkin was red-carded just before the hour mark for a high tackle, but the Lions somehow pulled together and ran in three tries to pick up their fourth win of the season and leapfrog Stourbridge in the table.

Ian Smith’s try helped Leicester lead 8-0 at half-time with centre Jon Boden scoring a penalty for the hosts.

Luke White got Stourbridge’s first points on the board in the third quarter as he slotted a penalty, but the Lions stretched their lead to 12 points as Kris McFeddries dotted down.

White again reduced the deficit from the tee and Stour looked as though they would go on to win this game when Rudkin received his marching orders and Tom Harrison dived over to make the score 15-13.

However, the Lions showed great spirit as Sam Benjamin produced a lovely score to extend his sides lead before a brace from Devon Constant complete an enthralling win for Andy Key’s side.

Wharfedale 38-32 South Leicester

Wharfedale claimed only their second win of the season but South Leicester fought back to take two points in this excellent contest in Skipton.

After an early ty from Lewis Wilson which was converted by James Guy, South Leicester made it 8-7 just after the 10 minute mark thanks to a try as well as a penalty from Ricci Aley.

Dale then went through the gears as tries from Ian Larkin, Olly Cicognini and Ralph Wellcock made it 28-8. However, South hit back to reduce the lead to six points heading into the interval.

Both sides exchanged scores after the break with Robbie Davidson going over for Dale and with the game on a knife edge, Josh Burridge crossed to secure Wharfedale the victory.

Chester 27-16 Hinckley

Late tries from Craig Ross and Harrison Vare saw Chester pick up their second home win on the spin as they defeated Hinckley at Hare Lane.

Five points from the boot of Joe Glover and a try from flanker Matt Fearn gave Hinckley a slender 10-8 lead at half-time.

Another penalty from Glover extended Hinckley’s advantage after the break but Ross’ first score for the hosts put them ahead in this contest.

However, their lead didn’t last for too long as Hinckley nailed another penalty via Mark Lord, but that proved to be Hinckley’s last score of the afternoon.

Ross and then Vare clinched the bonus-point victory for Chester in the final 10 minutes of this game while Hinckley travelled back to the Midlands with nothing to show for their efforts.

Harrogate 17-24 Sheffield Tigers

A brace from Jamie Bradley helped Sheffield Tigers to victory as they edged out Harrogate at Rudding Lane.

Angus Bower’s early try was cancelled out by the Harrogate pack who were awarded a Penalty Try to level the scores.

Harrogate struck again this time through a Jonny Coser try before Bradley collected a John Buchanan offload to make it 14-14 at the break.

But Bradley’s second and a penalty from Tom Outram completed the win for Sheffield Tigers and condemned Harrogate to their fifth straight defeat of the season.

Scunthorpe 24-18 Preston Grasshoppers

Preston Grasshoppers lost their fourth game in a row after Steve Johnson kicked Scunthorpe to victory at Heslam Park.

Three penalties from Johnson and a Penalty Try during an entertaining opening 40 minutes gave the hosts a 16-8 lead with Preston’s points coming via a Christian Taylor try and a Lewis Allen penalty.

Johnson added his fourth penalty of the afternoon at the start of the second period, but a converted score from Luke Proctor and another penalty from Allen threatened a Hoppers comeback.

But, a breakaway try from Ash Dibden with nine minutes to go secured Scunthorpe’s second win of the season.