Round 23 Review: Last-gasp moments, late drama and surging victories sums up weekend for the ages
Drop-goals, late tries, classy individual displays and solid team performances all had their place on a breathless Saturday of action. (Photo Credit: Gareth Siddons)
National One
Lloyd Hayes landed a last-gasp drop goal to clinch a 22-19 victory for league leaders Rotherham Titans (1st) against rivals Plymouth Albion (2nd).
This engrossing title race took on a whole new dimension in front of 1,223 at Clifton Lane, as Hayes kept his cool with the clock in the red to deliver what could prove to be a season-defining moment.
The win moves Rotherham four points clear of Plymouth with three matches remaining, leaving Harvey Biljon’s side in the driving seat for a return to Champ Rugby.
Four Iwan Jenkins penalties and a converted Joel Broadhurst try had given Albion a 19-12 lead heading into the final quarter, but Xavier Valentine struck on 65 minutes to level the contest.
Despite Plymouth applying the greater pressure, the decisive moment fell to the mercurial Hayes, who sent Clifton Lane into raptures.
Next up for Rotherham is the visit of sixth-placed Rams, while Plymouth welcome Sedgley Park to Brickfields.
Blackheath (3rd) have moved level on points with Plymouth after a 61-28 victory at relegation-threatened Sedgley Park (13th).
Despite the contrasting form of both sides, the Tigers only trailed 26-21 on the hour before ‘Club’ capitalised on a yellow card.
They scored five tries in a remarkable 10-minute spell through Tom Hughes, Tom Emery, Sam Morley, Jake Hennessy and Kyle McGhie.
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Captain Billy Harding also crossed for his 42nd try of the campaign, drawing level with Phil Chesters’ single-season National One record.
Sale FC (4th) will head into April – where they face all of the top three – off the back of a 47-31 win over a spirited Birmingham Moseley (10th).
Three tries inside the opening 15 minutes from Stone Priestley-Nagle, Tom Walsh and Andy Hughes laid the platform for victory for Sale, while Moseley’s bonus point keeps them just one point clear of the drop zone.
Leeds Tykes (9th) have moved seven points clear of the bottom three after a pulsating 53-48 win over Tonbridge Juddians (8th).
A see-saw contest saw the visitors fight back to 45-45 on 65 minutes, but Seb Krippner’s fourth try and an Eddie Crossland penalty ultimately proved decisive.
Clifton (11th) climbed out of the bottom three with a dramatic 28-24 win over Dings Crusaders (12th) on an emotional afternoon at Station Road.
This was the Lavender and Blacks’ first home match since the passing of Director of Rugby Matt Salter, and the hosts conjured up a late victory thanks to Oliver Stirling’s 80th-minute try.
Just three points now separate Sedgley Park (13th) and Birmingham Moseley (10th) as the relegation battle intensifies heading into the final month of the term.
Elsewhere, Rams (6th) ran in 11 tries in a 71-38 win over Leicester Lions (14th), while Bishop’s Stortford (7th) made it six consecutive victories with a highly impressive 59-33 success over Rosslyn Park (5th).
National Two North
Sheffield (1st) are on the brink of the National Two North title following a solid 31-21 win over Tynedale (2nd) at Abbeydale Park.
The relentless leaders – who have now won all 21 of their matches – led 19-14 at the break before second-half scores from Jack Dawson and Llew Smith sealed the result.
Victory over Macclesfield next weekend would confirm a historic promotion for Anthony Posa’s side.
As for Macclesfield (3rd), they know a minimum of two points from that visit to Sheffield will move them back into the play-off place after they beat Wharfedale (7th) 52-31.
Winger Samson Shute scored a brace as the Blues pulled away from their visitors in the second period to secure a result which leaves them one point behind second-placed Tynedale.
At the other end, Rossendale (12th) moved seven points clear of the bottom two as they defeated Hull Ionians (4th) 38-29 away from home.
Three victories from their last four matches have boosted The Stags’ survival hopes, and their latest triumph came down to the final 10 minutes at Brantingham Park.
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Luckas Sableman-Blue – who scored twice last week – crossed while scrum-half Finlay Rogers added the extras as well as a penalty to secure the success.
Hull (13th) collected two bonus points in a 36-31 home defeat against Darlington Mowden Park (5th).
Hull had fought back from 24-7 down to lead 26-24 thanks to scores from Tom Lineham and Paulos Latu (2), but DMP responded with a brace from wing Joeli Varo.
The hosts ensured they recorded a second bonus point thanks to Jack Render’s late try.
With Hull adding to their survival bid, Scunthorpe (14th) fell to the foot of the table following their 31-17 loss away at Billingham (9th).
Second-half scores from Jamie Lane, Tom Campbell and debutant Joe Syson took the game away from Scunthorpe, who are now eight points off Rossendale (who sit in the relegation play-off spot) with two games in hand.
Otley (11th) are now just four points above the aforementioned Rossendale after a 43-26 defeat at Fylde (6th), who made it three wins in a row.
The visitors trailed by just seven points with seven minutes remaining, but late scores from Jordan Dorrington and David Fairbrother saw Otley fall to a sixth defeat from their last seven matches.
And Preston Grasshoppers (10th) made it three wins on the spin as the superb Sam Freeman landed a last-gasp penalty to snatch a 39-37 victory over Sheffield Tigers (8th).
National Two East
Bury St Edmunds (1st) have moved to the summit of National Two East after surging to a 50-24 victory away at fifth-placed Barnes.
The Wolfpack were trailing 17-14 after 30 minutes, but a yellow card shown to Barnes’ Mathew Branfield ignited Bury.
Clark Macfarlane and Billy Reid crossed before Macfarlane, Andrew Denham and Oliver Walliker all went over in the second period.
Ben Penfold contributed 15 points in the capital as Bury’s fifth bonus-point win in a row leaves them on top of the pile heading into April.
Old Albanian (3rd) slipped from the summit after a shock 39-33 home defeat to second from bottom Sevenoaks (13th).
Tries from Barney Stone, Josh Livett, Ethan Jones, Scott Sedgwick and Cameron Cummings – as well as three conversions and a drop goal from Ben Adams – helped the visitors into a 34-12 lead.
OAs retaliated with three scores of their own to make it a one-point game on the hour, but Oaks were to inflict back-to-back defeats on their hosts as Harry Alexander touched down for the winning score six minutes from time.
Victory for Sevenoaks keeps them seven points behind the relegation play-off spot with three matches remaining.
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As for OAs, they are three points off the top and one point behind second-placed Oundle – who themselves are two points off the summit – after coming from behind to beat Esher (11th) 43-38.
Mike Brown’s side looked set to potentially back up last week’s win over Old Albanian by taking another scalp towards the top, but having led 35-19 on 53 minutes, the EEEs saw their advantage disappear.
Grant Snelling, a penalty try and two scores from Samson Ma’asi powered Oundle into a 43-35 advantage before Owen Waters slotted a penalty to secure two valuable bonus points for Esher.
Henley Hawks (12th) – who sit in the relegation play-off spot – are one point behind Esher and seven clear of the trapdoor after a 49-38 win over Havant (9th).
Luke Allen’s side had Roan Noone sent off late on, but a fourth win from their last five games was wrapped up before then.
Three tries after the hour from Will Benning, Tom David and Cornell Kinniburgh saw Henley punish two Havant yellow cards as they surged into a 49-26 lead before a late flurry from the visitors.
Elsewhere, Dorking (4th) stretched their unbeaten run to five games as Tom Hardwick’s last-minute penalty secured a 43-40 win over Westcombe Park (7th).
This 12-try affair looked set to end all square, but a free-kick awarded to Combe was reversed for dissent, allowing Hardwick to clinch the victory.
And lastly, Guernsey Raiders (8th) ran riot at Footes Lane to defeat London Welsh (10th) 62-19.
The Raiders registered 10 tries in total, with winger Anthony Armstrong scoring four for Jordan Reynolds’ side.
Canterbury (7th) v Oxford Harlequins (14th) was postponed due to concerns around the recent meningitis outbreak.
National Two West
A try-fest at Bell Sport & Rugby Park went the way of Loughborough Students (12th), who defeated Cinderford (6th) 57-50 to move out of the relegation zone.
Tries from Reilly Scriven, Joshua Horrobin, Reeve Brighty, Sam Smith and Nathan Taylor put Cinderford 33-31 up at half-time.
The tit for tat nature continued in the second half with both sides scoring three tries, but the key moment came on the 67th minute when Loughborough winger George Worthington completed his hat-trick to seal an almighty result for Martin Webdale’s side.
Loughborough’s win means Exeter University (13th) have fallen into the bottom two after a 57-47 home loss to Old Redcliffians (9th).
Exeter found themselves 47-28 down just after the break – with Old Reds winger Renico Bailey scoring a hat-trick – and despite fighting back with three tries in the second period, the hosts had left themselves with too much to do.
Gareth Elliott’s side are now four points behind Loughborough, with their final three matches of the season coming against top-five opposition.
As for bottom of the table Syston (14th), they had their relegation confirmed following a 54-22 loss away at Hornets (5th).
Tries from Corey Baker, Arthur Davis and Josh Sheppard inside the first 20 minutes gave Syston a mountain to climb and despite their best efforts, the Midlands club’s one-year stay in National Two has come to an end.
At the summit, Camborne (1st) got their title push back on track as Alex Ducker scored four tries in a handsome 54-24 win at Barnstaple (7th).
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‘Town’ entered Round 23 off the back of successive defeats, but they had the bonus point in the bag by half-time, with Ducker, on his 150th appearance, kicking off proceedings in Devon.
The winger added three more tries to his tally in the second period as Camborne remain 10 points clear at the top with three games to go.
Second-placed Luctonians have pushed the title race into April after an impressive 52-7 bonus-point success over Redruth (10th).
James Mear, Rob Aikman and Ben Link all scored twice at Mortimer Park, where Luctonians face Camborne on the penultimate weekend of the season.
Third-placed Hinckley remain five points behind Luctonians as they recovered from 33-15 down with 20 minutes to go to stun Chester (11th) 36-33.
The Midlands club were staring at just their second home defeat of the term, but tries from Nick Tarr, Callum Dacey and Ben Pointon secured an eighth win on the trot.
Elsewhere, Taunton (4th) were unable to back up last weekend’s win at leaders Camborne as they fell to a 29-28 home defeat to Lymm (8th).
Adam Fletcher and Andy Davies’ side became the first team since October to depart the Summerfield Stadium with a victory after building a 29-7 lead.
Taunton roared back in the final six minutes to collect two bonus points, but it was too late to change the outcome.
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