National League 2 North

It took us all by surprise to see the top two sides in this division lose their opening game of 2016 last weekend and both will be determined to bounce back this Saturday.

Macclesfield and Sedgley Park may have been suffering from festive hangovers as both sides began 2016 with a defeat as the title race took another twist in National Two North.

Not surprisingly the New Year fixture played at Sedgley Park was under rain and lights and it was South Leicester who ran out the winners.

Sale FC and Preston Grasshoppers shared the points in their first game of the New Year in a 22-22 draw at Heywood Road.

Macclesfield begin the New Year on top of National Two North having lost just two matches in the first half of the season while Sedgley Park aim to try and claw back a 12 point deficit.

As we are now at the season’s midway stage, Talking Rugby Union takes a look at the state of play in National Two North as Macclesfield top the tree at Christmas.

More wet weather hit the north of the country this weekend leading to two matches being called off, but for Macclesfield, they did not slip-up as they will be top of National Two North heading into 2016.

With just two games to go before the Christmas break, every team in National Two North will be hoping to enter the festive period with something to cheer about.

In Round 13 there were two main stories to come out of National Two North. The first one was the horrendous weather over the weekend which saw two games postponed, while the second was the fact that Sedgley Park thundered back into the title race with a win away at league leaders Macclesfield.

Sedgley Park closed the gap to three points at the top of National Two North as they beat leaders Macclesfield 12-27 after a superb second half display.

As we approach the Christmas break, it is safe to say the winter weather conditions have already arrived and that was evident in Round 12 of National Two North.

Stourbridge battled to a hard-fought victory over Chester in blustery and wet conditions at Hare Lane.

Macclesfield will be looking to make it 11 straight wins this weekend which will leave them in a comfortable position heading into December.

There is no change at the top in National Two North after Round 11 as Macclesfield made it 10 straight wins, but there has been a reshuffle just below them.

Macclesfield will be looking to tighten their grip at the top of National Two North this weekend as they go in search of their 10th straight win while there are some vital fixtures in the bottom half of the table.

For our National Two North review this week, we have spoken exclusively to Preston Grasshoppers Head Coach Garth Dew about his appearance for his home town club on Saturday plus his reaction to his teams victory.

By the end of this weekend, we would already have completed a third of the National Two North season and we are starting to see the top two pull away from the rest of the pack.

After nine rounds of matches, Macclesfield remain top of National Two North as Sedgley Park continue to keep the pressure on the Cheshire side.

Macclesfield made it eight straight league wins as they defeated Sandal 29-3 at Priory Park.

With the World Cup now over, our attention will turn back to the domestic game and after reading an opinion piece from Mark Smith of the Newcastle Chronicle about the state of the game in the North East, we compared it to the North West.