Stourbridge aiming to begin the month on top

Last week saw Stourbridge move to the summit of the National Two North table and Neil Mitchell’s side will be looking to carry their excellent form from September into October.

Stour capitalised on Sale FC’s defeat to South Leicester to go top of the division after four rounds and the Midlands club will be hoping their unbeaten run continues when they travel to Leicester Lions on Saturday. Sedgley Park remain close behind Stourbridge as four wins from four leaves them second heading into Round Five.

Elsewhere this weekend, the likes of the Luctonians, Caldy and South Leicester will be aiming to extend their winning spells while six of the bottom seven sides go head-to-head on Saturday.

Leicester Lions v Stourbridge

Leicester Lions have been very solid in National Two North once again this season. The Midlands-based club surprised many people last term as they were promotion contenders despite staying in this division on the final day of the 2014/15 season and once again, it looks like they can challenge for the top spots based on the opening stages of the new campaign.

After picking up two narrow wins from their first two league games against Tynedale and South Leicester, Andy Key’s men suffered a rare home defeat at the hands of the Luctonians. The Lions bounced back six days ago with an excellent victory away at Sheffield Tigers, but they will be eager to get back to winning ways at Westleigh Park this Saturday.

Stourbridge look like they are gathering momentum as each week passes in National Two North. Stour have picked up four consecutive wins including a 45-20 victory over Scunthorpe last week, leading to Neil Mitchell’s side going to the top of the table and becoming the leading points scorers in the division.

However last season, inconsistency held them back from pushing for a top two place and now the Midlands side will want to avoid that frustration this time around. It looks as though Stour have only been troubled by the Luctonians in their only away fixture so far this term so they will be hoping for a much more comfortable outing as they look to make it five from five this weekend against Leicester Lions.

Sedgley Park v Tynedale

Sedgley Park, along with Stourbridge, are one of only two teams in National Two North to pick up four wins from their first four matches of the new season. Sedge were 16-13 winners at home to Caldy on the opening day and they have followed that up with victories over Preston Grasshoppers, Otley and Hinckley.

After losing out in the title race to Macclesfield and then in the play-off against the Old Albanian last season, Sedgley will be desperate to go one better this season under the guidance of Dean Schofield. Sedge are back at Park Lane this weekend where they have won 25 of their last 32 games and they will be looking to add to that tally as they aim to continue their great start to the season.

Tynedale are looking to avoid any relegation battle that they were involved in on occasions last season. Tyne finished seven points clear of the bottom three and supporters at Corbridge will be hoping their side can push on as they build towards a return to National One.

It has been a mixed start for Scott Lawson’s side so far. Two wins and two defeats highlights this as does their eighth place position in the table, but those two losses have come away from home. Tyne were beaten by Leicester Lions and Sale FC and they will be eager to pick up their first win on the road with a victory against Sedge this Saturday.

Sale FC v Luctonians

Sale FC have made a wonderful start to their second consecutive season in National Two North. After staying in this division on the last day of the campaign last year, the club seem to have revamped their squad in the summer and have started this new term with three great results, wins against Otley, Hinckley and Tynedale.

However, Sale did suffer their first defeat of the season last Saturday when they lost out to South Leicester, but I imagine that confidence is still high in the squad. They’ll be looking forward to testing themselves back at Heywood Road this weekend considering Sale have won 10 of the last 17 games on home turf.

The Luctonians have enjoyed a brilliant 12 months as they’ve been able to steer clear of the relegation zone in National Two North and are now looking to establish themselves as a top half club in the division. The Lucts were one of the standout performers last year and they do seem to be capable of matching their achievements this term.

Andy Davidson’s men finished sixth last season after a remarkable run of form and have begun this season in decent fettle too. Wins against Sheffield Tigers, Leicester Lions and Harrogate means the Herefordshire side travel to Manchester on the back of three straight wins. They will be buoyed by this recent run of results and will be keen to add to that sequence this weekend.

Caldy v Otley

Caldy have once again begun a National Two North campaign strongly following their fifth placed finish last season. The Wirral outfit endured a positive term last year where they were on the cusp of promotion and it is perhaps unsurprising so see them towards the right end of the table at this early stage.

Simon Verbickas’ men have picked up three straight victories following their narrow opening day defeat to Sedgley Park. Wins against Chester, Scunthorpe and Preston mean Caldy head into their first home game of the season in high spirits. Last season, they won nine of their 15 games in front of their own supporters and they will be hoping to start this home campaign with a win.

Otley have had a mixed start to the season. Two defeats against Sale FC and Sedgley Park have been the only negatives on the Yorkshire sides record so far. They have picked up two wins in their other two matches against Wharfedale and more recently Chester.

Director of Rugby Peter Clegg stated before the season began that Otley can challenge for promotion this term and he’ll be hoping that is still the case, but they must avoid the inconsistency which has plagued them over the last couple of seasons. A chance of back to back victories presents itself to Otley this weekend when they travel to the Paton Fields.

Wharfedale v South Leicester

Wharfedale have had a tough time of things so far this season. After relegation from National One for the first time in a decade in May, they have struggled to adjust to life in the fourth tier of English rugby. Injuries have been a problem for the Skipton-based club which might reflect their below-par start to the campaign.

Dale have won just one of their four matches this term with that only victory coming against Hinckley two weeks ago. Wharfedale are back in Yorkshire this weekend and will be looking to kick start their campaign in front of their own supporters when South Leicester visit The Avenue tomorrow.

This is South Leicester’s second successive season in National Two North and they have started the campaign in a positive fashion. Last year, South were flirting with relegation at times but judging by the opening four rounds of this term, they are keen to not let that happen this time around.

Paul Westgate’s men have made a decent start, winning two and losing two of their first four matches leaving them in seventh place in the table. A victory against bottom club Harrogate was magnificently followed up by their win over table toppers Sale FC six days ago. Their two defeats have been narrow, so South have every chance of coming away from Skipton with their third win on the spin this Saturday.

Chester v Hinckley

Chester are hoping that their second half collapse away at Otley last weekend won’t be the start of another poor run of form. After a disappointing start to this season, Chester produced an excellent performance to beat Preston Grasshoppers two weeks ago, but fell to their third defeat of the season in Yorkshire six days ago.

In National Two North, Chester have declined over the last 12 months. A fifth placed finish was followed by them ending last season 10^th in the standings and they head into this fixture at Hare Lane having won 13 of their last 34 league matches. Can they bounce back from that defeat last week by making it back to back home wins this weekend?

Hinckley have had a tough start to the new campaign. Last year’s National Three North play-off winners have been unable to earn a victory in their last three matches as they suffered defeats against Sale FC, Wharfedale and Sedgley Park since their opening day triumph over Harrogate.

In truth, the last three fixtures have been extremely difficult for the men from Leicester Road and now this clash with Chester could be a good opportunity for them to claim their second win of the season this Saturday. Chester have won just five of their last 17 matches on home soil so Hinckley may fancy their chances.

Harrogate v Sheffield Tigers

Yorkshire outfit Harrogate have been a regular fixture in National Two North for the last couple of season achieving top half finishes, although their performances so far this season have been below-par. After finishing fourth and seventh in the previous two seasons, ‘Gate have lost their first four games of this term and sit rock bottom at this early stage.

Having lost to Hinckley, Tynedale, South Leicester and the Luctonians, it has not been the most enjoyable season thus far for the men from Ruddling Lane who also began last season quite slowly. They were able to recover and go on a good run of form which propelled them up the table and Harrogate will be hoping history repeats itself this term.

Sheffield Tigers are hoping to make the most of their opportunity in National Two North this season. Although they were promoted into this division for this season, the Tigers will feel they have the quality to compete at this level and they have shown glimpses of that in the first four rounds of the season.

After a defeat to the Luctonians on the opening weekend of the campaign, Sheffield Tigers roared to a comprehensive victory over Scunthorpe. Since then, they were beaten by league leaders Stourbridge and battled well against Leicester Lions last weekend and will know they can take the positives from that game into this match as they aim for their second win of the campaign on Saturday.

Scunthorpe v Preston Grasshoppers

Scunthorpe’s start to life in National Two North has been a difficult one. After clinching the National Three Midlands title in May, the Greens started the new league campaign with victory over Chester, but since then, Scunthorpe have failed to build on that.

Tim Robinson’s men have suffered three heavy defeats which has seen them ship 151 points and now they must pick themselves up and begin October with victory back at Helsam Park tomorrow. Scunthorpe have won 13 of their last 15 games on home soil.

Preston Grasshoppers have also had a similar start to that of Scunthorpe. After a 10^th place finish in a term that included positives for Garth Dew’s side, the Hoppers may have been hoping to push on into the top half of the division this season. There’s plenty of potential in the squad Dew has assembled at Lightfoot Green, but so far it has been a tough opening to the new campaign.

Preston started the season with an excellent win at Wharfedale, but that has been followed up with three straight defeats against Sedgley Park, Chester and Caldy. The Hoppers will have to raise their game if they’re to secure their first away win of the term when they take the 115 mile trip to Yorkshire on Saturday.