Top two neck and neck in National One

Round 13 in National One serves up some intriguing fixtures as Hartpury College and Richmond face tough away fixtures which leaves the door open for Blackheath and Esher if they are to slip up.

Elsewhere each weekend is becoming more crucial for Cinderford, Wharfedale and Henley Hawks as the fight for survival greatens.

Rosslyn Park v Hartpury College

What a challenge this will be for Hartpury College this weekend. They travel to one of the favourites for the promotion in pre-season, Rosslyn Park, as College aim to stay top of the table in National One.

Park are 13 points behind the league leaders and if they are to beat Hartpury on Saturday, they will firmly launch themselves back into the promotion race. Expect this to a tense and cagey affair!

Loughborough Students v Richmond

Richmond will be hoping for Rosslyn Park to do them a favour as they look to go top of National One for the first time this season. They have won 10 of their 12 matches this campaign and are a side playing with a lot of confidence.

Confidence can be a word to describe Loughborough Students at the moment too. Two wins in their last four games has seen the Students move up to 12^th in the table, but they do remains six points clear of the bottom three.

Blackheath v Fylde     

Blackheath will be waiting in the wings if Richmond and Hartpury fail to pick up victories this Saturday, but first they must overcome the challenge of Fylde. ‘Heath have won 10 of their 12 games and Head Coach Mike Friday thinks the league is an unpredictable one as his side sit just three points off the top.

Blackheath Head Coach Mike Friday

“Who knows where we will finish as this league is the most volatile where anyone can beat anyone on any given day. The league does create exciting games due to the array of talent on show, but there will be mistakes by teams along the way.”

Fylde come into this clash in inconsistent form as they are capable of beating teams above them but are also capable of not playing to the best of their ability. This has been proven by their win against Rosslyn Park earlier in the season.  It will be interesting to see which Fylde side turns up this weekend.

Henley Hawks v Esher

Esher take the short journey to Henley Hawks as they look to push into the top three with an away win this weekend.

Their hosts, Henley, have lost their last six games and have fallen into the bottom three for the first time since they were promoted into this division. It will be a difficult task for them this weekend against a very offensive Esher side.

Darlington Mowden Park v Coventry

Further down the field are Coventry who face a tough assignment up in the north-east as they take on Darlington Mowden Park.

Coventry are now 6^th in the table after three straight wins and will go in search of their eighth victory of the campaign this Saturday.

Their hosts are currently in a purple patch of form. DMP lie 11^th in the table, but have won three of their last four games and were only edged out by a point against Richmond in that sole defeat. Darlington will be hoping to build on their recent results as they are now just four points outside the top half.

Ampthill and District v Hull Ionians

This will be the first time these sides have met since they were both promoted from National Two North last season. Both teams have made steady starts to life in English rugby’s third tier with Amphtill just losing their way slightly since suffering a number of injuries.

Hull Ionians have won five and lost seven of their first 12 games in this division and were highly unlucky not to come away with a victory against Blackheath last weekend. The I’s lost this fixture 25-15 at Dillingham Park last season and will be hoping to avoid a defeat this time around

Wharfedale v Plymouth Albion

Ampthill’s last opponents were Plymouth Albion who will be looking to make it back to back this weekend when they travel to face relegation threatened Wharfedale.

Lumbered in 15^th place, Dale could struggle to claim their third win of the season against an Albion which is slowly starting to click into gear after relegation from the Championship last season.

Cinderford v Blaydon

A few weeks ago this would’ve been the battle of the bottom two, but three wins from their last for as seen Blaydon move out of the relegation zone. They are now four points clear of danger but now must carry their home form into their away matches if they are to steer clear of the bottom three.

As for Cinderford, it is beginning to look bleak. They are eight points from safety and they will need some big performances to dig themselves out of this hole. Even home advantage brings no joy for Cinderford and Blaydon will fancy picking up their maiden away win of the season.