Weather freezes action in National Two North

Five games were postponed across National Two North in Round 18 due to the wintery conditions that hit the country towards the end of the week meaning only three matches took place on Saturday.

The top two, Macclesfield and Sedgley Park, were both not in action due to their matches against Broadstreet and Otley being called off which allowed Stourbridge to close the gap on the promotion places.

Caldy lost further ground in the promotion race as they had to settle for a draw against a Preston Grasshoppers side that would have certainly been frustrated to leave Cheshire with just two points.

Leicester Lions profited from Caldy’s misfortune as they cemented their place in the top five as they eased to a win over Sandal.

Elsewhere, Chester v Tynedale , Sale FC v South Leicester and Huddersfield v Luctonians all fell foul to the weather.

Stourbridge 23-10 Harrogate

Due to the postponement at Sedgley Park, Stourbridge are now up to second in the table after a comfortable victory over Harrogate.

The hosts led 18-3 after a clinical first-half display with Tobias Handley and Joshua Trinham both crossing and Rod Petty kicking a conversion and two penalties.

James Othuha scored two minutes after the restart and even when Connor Nicholls was sin-binned for Stour just before the hour, Harrogate could only score one try to back up Lewis Minikin’s first half penalty as Luke Edwards touched down 13 minutes from the end.

Caldy 13-13 Preston Grasshoppers

Caldy came back from 13-0 down at half-time to snatch a late draw at home to Preston Grasshoppers.

An Andrew Napier try backed up by eight points from the boot of Sean Taylor gave the visitors the lead at the break as they were looking to maintain their good recent form.

However, Caldy began their comeback eight minutes into the second period as replacement forward John Parker barged his way over and Gavin Roberts added the extras.

Roberts then reduced the deficit further with a penalty on 54 minutes, but the Wirral side had to wait until the final two minutes of the game to claim a share of the points as Roberts nudged over another penalty which now leaves Caldy nine points behind Stourbridge.

Leicester Lions 25-0 Sandal

Leicester Lions maintained their unbeaten home record after a commanding victory over Sandal at Westleigh Park.

Adam Shaw’s neat early score put the hosts ahead and their lead was extended before the interval as Jonathan Williams landed two penalties.

Oliver Taylor and Devon Constant then added to the Lions’ tally in the final quarter of the match to wrap up the contest.

Leicester have now gone 10 games unbeaten at home this season and they currently sit fifth in the table while Sandal have won just two of their last eight matches.