Still nothing to separate the top two

There were no postponements in National Two South this weekend and there is still no clear daylight between the Old Albanian and Cambridge as both avoided putting a foot wrong in Round 13.

Taunton remain on the coattails of the top two while there were big wins for Bishops Stortford, Redruth and Southend in the top half.

Elsewhere, there were morale boosting victories for Chinnor and Worthing while it’s beginning to look exceptionally bleak for Launceston at the foot of the table.   

Old Albanian 34-5 Clifton

Max Malins scored four tries as the Old Albanian returned to the top of National Two South after this comprehensive bonus point win over Clifton.

Malins’ third of the afternoon sealed a bonus point and a sixth home win of the season for the OA’s who remain level on points with Cambridge at the summit of this division.

Malins opened the scoring on eight minutes and James Spiers was on hand to add to the fly-half’s early try before Malins doubled his tally for the afternoon as the OA’s strolled into a 17-0 half-time lead.

And it wasn’t long into the second period before the No.10 claimed his hat-trick and the extra point for his side.

Sam Harrison scored a consolation try for Clifton, who have now lost four of their last five games, before Malins made it four for the afternoon with flanker Harry Bale rounding off a professional performance from the Old Albanian.

Cambridge 38-23 Redingensians

Cambridge have an identical record to the Old Albanian, but dropped to 2^nd in the table despite running in six tries against a battling Redingensians side.

Craig Nightingale’s score for the visitors was quickly cancelled out by a George Furbank try before two tries from Albert Portsmouth and Gerhard Boshoff gave Cambridge a four point half-time lead at Volac Park.

Sean McDermott had dotted down for the Redingensians’ second try of the afternoon before break, but when William Morrison and James Foxley both crossed after the interval, it gave the Rams a surprise 19-23 lead.

However, they just couldn’t hold on as Cambridge hit back.

Portsmouth along with fellow back Lawrence Hutchinson made it 31-23 thanks to two tries in 8 minutes and the home side made sure of the win when Alex Moon crossed deep into the contest.

The Old Albanian and Cambridge are now separated by a points difference of just seven as we approach the Christmas break.

Dorking 19-22 Taunton Titans

Taunton Titans are four points behind the front runners as a late Gary Kingdom penalty sealed victory against a spirited Dorking side.

The Titians were ahead at the break as a Penalty Try and a score from Samuel Prior gave them a slender 7-12 lead with Cameron Pimlow crossing for Dorking.

The hosts levelled the score straight after half-time as winger Kariym Irvine touched down and it wasn’t until the 66^th minute before Taunton re-took the lead as replacement Samuel Skinner dived over.

Jake Woolmore was then yellow-carded for the away side with seven minutes go and Dorking didn’t pass up the opportunity to tie the game once again as Charles Stevenson dotted down five minutes from the end with Matthew Noble converting.

It looked certain that Dorking had saved two points, but a lapse in concentration presented Taunton with a penalty and Kingdom did not make a mistake from the tee as they snatched four points to keep them firmly in the promotion hunt.

Bishops Stortford 50-7 Launceston

William Baxter scored a hat-trick as Bishops Stortford thrashed bottom club Launceston at Silver Leys.

Bishops Stortford took a 22-0 lead thanks to the three tries from Baxter and one from centre Dominic Morris all inside the first 35 minutes.

The home side had already secured their bonus point and their rampant mood didn’t stop in the second period as Samuel Winter took advantage of Lloyd Duke’s yellow-card for Launceston by scoring Stortford’s fifth try of the afternoon.

Harry Marner scored a brace for his side during the second half while fellow winger Nicholas Hankin also got in on the act to round off proceedings.

Launceston did score a consolation through Thomas Sandercock four minutes from time, but it was another miserable day for the bottom club who are still winless and are 17 points from safety.

Redruth 37-13 Old Elthamians

Redruth made it four wins from their last five after securing a bonus point victory against an in-form Old Elthamians side.

Five first-half tries coming from Jack Maunder, Thomas Notman, Kyle Morgan, Bradley Howe and Nielson Webber gave Redruth a commanding 29-3 lead at the half-time, with Thomas White replying for the OE’s.

Benjamin Priddey was then yellow carded for Redruth 15 minutes into the second 40 and the OE’s did some damage while he was off the field as Truman Sullivan and Charles Edwards both touched down.

Sandwiched in between the two tries was a Roger Brett Rule penalty for Redruth and with the score now at 32-13, Redruth decided to stretch their lead as Maunder crossed for his second to wrap up the win and leave the Reds a point behind Bishops Stortford.

Bury St Edmunds 16-23 Southend Saxons

Southend Saxons survived two second half yellow cards to earn their first win in four matches away at Bury St Edmunds.

Alan Barker and Thomas Ashton were both sin-binned during the second period, but the Saxons held out for victory.

Southend did lead 11-17 at half-time as tries from Christopher Vaughan and Samuel Fombo were backed up by seven points via the boot of Bradley Burr. A try from William Affleck and two penalties from Scott Lyle was Bury’s reply in the first period.

And Burr continued his excellent kicking game in the second half as he nailed three penalties in seven minutes to stretch Southend’s lead to 12 points, but then that advantage was put in serious doubt.

Barker and Ashton were both dismissed from the field in a 10 minute period, but Bury just couldn’t capitalise on the extra man with only a Matthew Edison try to show for their efforts as Southend held on for the win.

Chinnor 35-25 Barnes

Chinnor clinched an all-important third win of the season as they triumphed over Barnes as they look to steer themselves away from danger.

The hosts raced into a 15-3 lead as Darren Oliver, Grieg Goodfellow and Benjamin Manning all crossed, but their advantage disappeared before half-time as Barnes carried a lead into the break.

A penalty and a try from Tom ‘OToole as well as two tries in two minutes from Christopher Lewis and Edouard Alteric saw Chinnor begin the second period with a five point advantage.

That lead was soon wiped out as Robert Malaney was yellow card and Chinnor made it 22-20 as full-back Oscar Heath dived over.

The lead changed hands once again when Matthew Cornish dotted down on 64 minutes for Barnes, but Chinnor pulled clear and took the game away from the visitors after that try.

Jonathon Hopkin landed two penalties and converted Jack Adams’ try to seal a much needed win for Chinnor who remain in the bottom three.

Canterbury 20-27 Worthing Raiders

Worthing Raiders picked up just their second away win of the season with this victory over a Canterbury side that has now lost nine of their last 10 matches.

The home side struck first with a Harry Sayers try, but they were behind by half-time as Matthew McLean and Owain Davies crossed for Worthing despite prop Daniel Sargent being shown a yellow card.

Canterbury, who have won just once at home this season, did take the lead on 51 minutes as Royce Cadman’s try was backed up by a penalty from Oliver Best.

Sargent then put Worthing back in front with a try four minutes later before it was Canterbury’s turn to have a man in the sin-bin.

Courtney Horey was the culprit on this occasion, but rather than Worthing extending their advantage, Canterbury retook the lead as Best got a try for himself.

But their one point lead disappeared in an instant as replacement Samuel Rogers joined Horey in the bin on 64 minutes and Benjamin Loosmore scored the decisive try for Worthing before Davies slotted over a penalty to wrap up the victory which sees Worthing move up to 12^th.