National League 2 North

A bright and sunny Preston welcomed Birmingham and Solihull in October 2012. A first class playing surface that suited the running skills of Mike Haley (now Sale Sharks), Sean Taylor (now Ballymena) and Oscar Heath.

A number of Stockport errors allowed the Luctonians to claim their third National League Two North victory as they ran out 34-11 winners at Headlands Road.

The TalkingRugbyUnion team will be out and about this week following teams in National 2. Last weekend we made our way east to follow the progress of Hull Ionians.

A 20-minute spell proved the difference between Hull Ionians and Sedgley Park as the former ran out 29-18 victors in National League 2 North.

Harrogate RUFC cruised to their fourth National League 2 North victory of the season beating an injury-hit Stockport 59-14.

This week Otley Rugby Club head south west for a league fixture against Stourbridge. Neither team have started the season as expected.

Our preview focused on Garth Dew's return to Sedgley Park with his club Preston Grasshoppers. We were not disappointed with a game that was hard fought but with thrilling periods of play.

Perhaps inevitably we focus this week on former Sale Sharks and Sedgley Park Tigers man Garth Dew in his new role as Head Coach with Preston Grasshoppers.

Harrogate are scheduled to move to their new Ground in January so this nail biter was their last Claro Road local derby against Otley.

Captain Joseph Makin scored a hat-trick; scoring two tries in the first-half and was backed up by Ben Winterburn and Alex Campbell as Hull Ionians made it five National League Two North wins in a row.

Ollie Parkinson scored a last-minute try to hand Sedgley Park Tigers a 29-27 win over Birmingham Bees in National League Two North

This talented Harrogate side is still not “firing on all cylinders”. Although they scored 3 tries to 1, this was yet another very tight game which they should have won. They dominated the lines-out with Chris Wilson winning several Hull throws but their powerful scrum fell foul of Mr Makepeace’s law interpretations at times.

A gallery of images, provided by Glenn Hutton, from Sedgley Park's National League 2 North victory over Leicester Lions.

Oliver Carter scored a late try as Stockport were beaten 19-18 by Preston Grasshoppers at Headlands Road in National League 2 North.

A draw was probably the right result after this scrappy match. Harrogate scored both the game’s tries and certainly played the more enterprising rugby.

The National Two North clash between Stockport and Sedgley Park Tigers produced 95 points and 14 tries as the away side won 85-10.

The wet conditions suited the powerful Stourbridge power play but Harrogate’s tigerish defence kept them in the game and they thoroughly deserved their losing bonus point.

Broadstreet were first time callers to Park Lane and the visitors, last seasons National League 3 Midlands Champions, acquitted themselves well and pushed Sedgley Park Tigers all the way.

A combination of injuries and Easter unavailabilities led to Harrogate taking a weakened side to Birmingham for this re-arranged fixture. The players responded with an outstanding team performance with many of them giving us their best game of the season.

Early basic mistakes from Harrogate gave the powerful Sedgley Park team a dream start and they built on this to record a comprehensive win.