National League 2 North

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.

After a scoreless first half, Harrogate raised their game to put in a workmanlike team performance to earn a comfortable win.

Yorkshire side Hulll left Manchester and Sedgley Park bitterly disappointed as they rued a missed penalty attempt with the final kick of the game that what have sealed an away victory after a spirited comeback.

Early home pressure led to a well deserved 7-0 lead. Thereafter, a weakened Harrogate side gradually took almost complete control and went comfortably ahead.

Within seconds, Harrogate had raced into a 5-0 lead but followed this with a mistake ridden 1st half increased their lead but, from then on it was all Harrogate who scored 5 more tries before the final whistle.

Two yellow cards at crucial points of the game cost Sedgley Tigers dearly at the weekend as they lost away from home to Darlington Mowden Park 17-13 in an extremely close-fought contest.

The lead changed several times during a competitive 1st half but, crucially, Macclesfield scored just before the break to put themselves 5 points ahead to finish Harrogate 19 - Macclesfield 49

Sedgley Park backed-up last weekend's impressive win away at Macclesfield with another strong performance, as the Tigers powered past Chester by 43 points to 14.