The Review: Welcome wins arrive as scintillating start to the season takes a breather
A host of teams ended the first block of the campaign on a high, while five remain unbeaten as the pause button is pressed on the National League Rugby season. (Photo Credit: Martin Gray)
National One
Sheffield (12th) ended the first block of the season with an important 33-22 win over bottom side Cambridge (14th) at Abbeydale Park, securing their second victory of the campaign.
The hosts trailed 17-14 at half-time, with Jacob McCay and Ben Ritson crossing for Cambridge alongside a Luke Bouchier penalty, while Peter Hudson-Kowalewicz and the returning Chris Hooper scored for Sheffield.
George Rogers and Dom Parsons then touched down as Sheffield took control, before Hooper’s second try sealed the win. Harry Tunningley’s late score was only a consolation for Cambridge, who are still searching for that elusive victory.
Like Sheffield, fellow promoted side Bury St Edmunds (10th) also claimed a significant win, with Samir Kharbouch scoring a last-gasp try in a dramatic 31-26 victory over Birmingham Moseley (9th).
After a 14-14 first half, tries from Ruaraidh Williams and Matt Hicks put Bury 26-14 ahead before a remarkable final 10 minutes in Suffolk.
Fred Ma’a and George Perry hit back for Moseley to level the scores, but Kharbouch had the final say.
A third victory of the season for Bury, and a third success of the campaign for London Scottish (8th), who secured derby day bragging rights following a 38-26 win at Rosslyn Park (7th).
Rob McCallum, Alex Earnshaw and Will Rigelsford, plus a Will Butler penalty, helped the Exiles lead 24-19 at half-time.
Scottish capitalised on Rory Jennings’ yellow card, with Matt Gribbon and Cameron Murphy crossing, before two yellow cards of their own allowed Ben Murphy to score for the hosts.
However, it was too late to spark a comeback, as Joe Gray’s side completed an encouraging fortnight.
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At the top, Plymouth Albion (1st) and Tonbridge Juddians (2nd) maintained their perfect records with a seventh successive bonus-point win.
Plymouth beat Dings Crusaders (13th) 59-12 in front of more than 2,300 at Brickfields. In-form winger Noah Fenton scored a hat-trick, while Man of the Match Dan Pullinger and Rhys Williams both crossed twice. Albion yet again denied their opposition a bonus point.
TJs defeated Rams (11th) 49-19 at The Slade after falling behind to Alex Ridgway’s early try. Jack Walsh (2), Connor Lloyd, Matt Engelbrecht and Steff James helped the hosts establish a 35-14 half-time lead, before Engelbrecht and Vincent Everitt completed the scoring after the break.
Camborne (3rd) sit five points behind the top two after a hard-fought 33-29 win over Sale FC (5th).
Jon Drew, Sam Matavesi and Jago Sheppard helped the Cherry and Whites lead 21-19 at half-time. Dan Roderick secured the bonus point after the break before Nev Edwards and Matavesi exchanged tries to make it 33-24.
Josh Brown brought Sale within four points after the hour, and the visitors threatened late on, but their rolling maul was stopped short before referee Alex Powdrell blew for full-time.
And Leeds Tykes (4th) once again produced a second-half surge to beat Bishop’s Stortford (6th) 36-31.
Pete Seabourne and Pete Lucock’s side trailed 17-14 at half-time, with Reggie Hammick, Seva Keva and Alex Rayment scoring for the visitors, but three tries in seven minutes from Ewan Laughton, Albert Bradshaw and the in-form Matt Salisbury put Leeds ahead.
Rayment and Bradshaw then exchanged scores before the Stortford hooker completed his hat-trick to make it a five-point game with 15 minutes remaining.
However, Leeds held firm to secure their fourth win of the campaign.
National Two North
Huddersfield (10th) climbed off the foot of the table with their second win of the season, beating Fylde (11th) 40-24 at Lockwood Park.
Tries from Liam Stapley, Tom Hainsworth and Gareth Widdop gave Huddersfield a 21-17 half-time lead, with Ben Turner and James Suttcliffe going over for Fylde.
Wingers Will Brough and Charlie Foreman stretched Huddersfield’s advantage, but the hosts were then reduced to 14 men for the second time in the match as lock Seifeddine Boussaada was sin-binned.
Fylde failed to capitalise during that period but scored through Rob King after Jack Bailey was also yellow-carded. However, Huddersfield had the final say with a penalty try.
Callum Thompson’s side enter the break four points clear of the bottom two (Otley and Wharfedale), who they face next month.
Sheffield Tigers (8th) also moved up the standings as a last-gasp Jenson Cliff try snatched a 29-26 win against Chester (3rd).
The Tigers trailed by 16 points at half-time but fought back through Alex Mitchell and James Norman to close the gap to 26-22. With Ed Morris and David Jones both yellow-carded, the hosts applied late pressure before Cliff crossed for the winning, converted try.
The Yorkshire outfit move up to eighth, with just six points separating the bottom half after seven rounds.
League leaders Sedgley Park (1st) battled to a seventh consecutive bonus-point win, beating a determined Heath (9th) 40-3 at Park Lane.
Luke Cole, Alex Minozzi and Jack Ellam crossed to give Sedge a 19-3 half-time lead after Heath fly-half Chris Johnson had opened the scoring.
Cole’s second, followed by late tries from Joe Bedlow and Tom Hesketh, gave the scoreline a more emphatic look as Sedgley maintained their 100 per cent record.
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Darlington Mowden Park (2nd) remain four points behind Sedge after a 61-13 victory over Wharfedale (14th).
DMP ran in nine tries in the North-East, although Wharfedale did trail by just six points midway through the first half following two Callum Trees penalties and a Joe Adams try.
But the hosts then took control, with Alfie Barron, Tyler Armstrong, Jacob Oliver, Joe Davis, Reuben Dyer and Josh Oppong all scoring as DMP secured a sixth successive win.
Elsewhere, Preston Grasshoppers (4th) proved too strong for Billingham (12th), winning 50-15 at Lightfoot Green.
With the scores level at 3-3, Hoppers capitalised on Oliver Telfer’s yellow card to score three tries in the final six minutes of the first half through Ellis Causey, Zephyr Ogden and Sam Freeman.
Ogden completed his hat-trick after the break, while Causey and Josh Ree added further tries to secure Preston’s fifth win of the season.
Tynedale (6th) made it four wins in a row with a 47-26 victory over Harrogate (7th).
Harrogate led 7-5 at the interval, but Tynedale scored six second-half tries through James Lythgoe, Ben Haigh (2), Sam Turnhill, Jake Scott and Cam Grant. A late penalty try secured a bonus point for the visitors.
Otley’s match against Hull Ionians was postponed.
National Two East
Esher (2nd) snatched a dramatic 29-24 victory at third-placed Guernsey Raiders, with Theo Skoumbourdis scoring the decisive try a minute from time.
Guernsey had fought back from 12-0 down to lead 24-17 before a double from Skoumbourdis – his second coming right at the death – clinched the win for the visitors.
Tries from Darragh Walsh and Matt Dalrymple gave the EEEs the dream start, but Iwan Shenton’s score and a brace from Anthony Armstrong put Guernsey in front.
Jonah Giles and Guernsey back-row Matt Creber then swapped tries before Esher turned the game on its head.
With Josh Poullett in the sin-bin, Esher made their extra man count as Skoumbourdis crossed to seal a sixth consecutive win.
Esher have moved up to second after table rivals Old Albanian (4th) lost 46-27 at Henley Hawks (8th).
Flanker Fin Basil starred with a hat-trick as Henley maintained their unbeaten home record and inflicted just a second defeat of the season on OAs.
Henley led 22-10 at half-time through Matt Bowers, Aaron Bello, Basil and Will Benning.
Basil completed his hat-trick after the break to make it 36-17 before Charlie Fleckney replied for OAs. A Callum Jones penalty and Leo Webb’s try secured Henley’s third win of the season, with Rafferty Hewitt’s late score a consolation for the visitors.
League leaders Oundle (1st) recorded a seventh successive bonus-point win, beating London Welsh (12th) 45-0 away from home.
After a stubborn first-half defensive effort from Welsh, Oundle pulled clear with six second-half tries through Tom Collins (2), Chester Owen (2), Finlay Ogden and Frankie Sleightholme.
Aly Kachra and Gareth Collins’ side remain among the four teams across National League Rugby yet to drop a point.
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Dorking (5th) continued their excellent form with a 34-12 win at Jersey (13th), overturning a half-time deficit to claim a fifth consecutive victory.
Armand Roux’s side trailed 12-8 at the break but scored 26 unanswered points, with Tom Newman, Will Sanders, Finn Osborne and Benedict Heber among the scorers.
There were dramatic home wins for Barnes (9th) and Leicester Lions (11th), with both matches decided in the final 10 minutes.
At Barnes, Charlie Briers’ close-range try sealed a 34-32 victory over Canterbury (6th), giving Jack Heald’s side back-to-back wins heading into the break.
Barnes trailed 29-17 after 54 minutes but capitalised on Max McCormack’s yellow card to launch their comeback.
Caelan Stanton and Jasper Cameron crossed to cut the deficit to two points before Lewis Hollidge’s penalty put Canterbury 31-27 ahead. However, Briers’ sniping finish proved to be the difference.
In the Midlands, Owen Carroll’s 74th-minute try secured Leicester Lions a 42-38 win over Colchester (7th).
The Lions led 23-14 at half-time, but tries from Leroy O’Neil and Ted Reid put Colchester 28-23 ahead. Dexter Ryde and Max Clark then exchanged scores before Jake Sterland marked his 100th Leicester appearance with a try to put the hosts in front.
Ethan Cole replied for Colchester, but Carroll’s late score secured a second win of the campaign for Leicester.
Havant (10th) halted a run of back-to-back defeats with an absorbing 58-42 win over an injury-hit Westcombe Park (14th).
Havant trailed 21-0 after 11 minutes but fought back to 28-27 at half-time, with Ben Chambers, Sam Vince (2), Sam Trodd and Dylan Evans scoring.
Yellow cards for Chris Aroyehun and Lukas Edstrom left Combe with 13 men at the start of the second half, and Havant scored twice before Westcombe Park loanee Ben Charnock was also sin-binned. Ross Parkins and Reuben Knight capitalised to put Havant 53-28 ahead.
Charnock, who scored four of Westcombe Park’s tries, and Edstrom did reduce the deficit, but Colin Sisk had the final say for Havant.
National Two West
Redruth (1st) maintained their perfect start with a seventh consecutive win, beating Lymm (8th) 39-7 away from home.
The league leaders scored three first-half tries through Joe Cummins, Tom Cowan-Dickie and Connor Gilbert.
Penalties from Cummins and Adam Hall – as well as tries in the final quarter from Finley Wolstencroft and Sam Bray – completed the win for the Reds, who now have a four-point gap at the summit.
Hinckley (2nd) moved up to second with a hard-fought 24-17 win over table rivals Taunton (5th) at Leicester Road.
Both sides had won five of their opening six games, but Hinckley took control as Will Callan, Aiden Reid and George Tonga’uiha built a 19-0 lead. Ben Oliphant-Thompson and Alfie Johns scored either side of half-time to bring Taunton back into contention.
Despite spending long spells in Hinckley territory, the Titans conceded again when Travis Bennett-Allcock capitalised on a turnover. Matt Whitlock’s late penalty secured Taunton a losing bonus point, but Hinckley made it five wins in a row.
Next up for Alex White’s side is a trip to leaders Redruth.
Luctonians (3rd) responded emphatically to last week’s defeat at Loughborough Students, running in 11 tries to thrash Bournville (12th) 73-5.
Charlie Grimes scored twice, while scrum-half Owen Randell celebrated his 100th National League Rugby appearance with a 23-point haul. Jonjo Fanning scored Bournville’s only try as Luctonians delivered the reaction they wanted at Mortimer Park.
Clifton (4th) also enjoyed a big win, beating Devonport Services (13th) 75-12 at Station Road.
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Tom Quinlan and Dylan Power both crossed twice, with Quinlan finishing on 20 points. Devonport Services were level at 5-5 through Elliott Pocknell’s 12th-minute try, but Clifton pulled clear to secure a sixth win. They join Hinckley and Luctonians on 30 points.
A third consecutive victory moved Old Redcliffians (6th) into the top six as they beat Barnstaple (11th) 31-24.
Old Reds were 24-12 ahead shortly after half-time thanks to Lex Van Keergergen and Tom McLean, but Stanley Kift kept Barnstaple in touch. Harrison Murphy extended the hosts’ lead before Callum Davies crossed for a converted try in the 77th minute to earn Barum two bonus points.
Cinderford (7th) make up the top half, but had to work hard for their 40-32 win over bottom-of-the-table Exeter University (14th).
Tries from Henry Boggs and Rory Humphries, alongside Ollie Chandler-Sullivan’s boot, helped Exeter lead 17-7 before Cinderford hit back.
Josh Horrobin, Halen King and Brendan Llewelyn crossed to give the hosts a 28-20 half-time lead, before Matt Cotton and Jake Polledri effectively took Cinderford clear.
Billy Benson and Alec Bagwell secured Exeter a try bonus point, but with only one of their tries converted, the visitors missed out on a losing bonus point.
Finally, Hornets (9th) secured their first victory since Round Two thanks to a 51-45 win over Loughborough Students (10th) in a 14-try thriller.
Hornets led 31-26 at half-time, with Owen Griffith, Sonny Davis, Charlie Carter, Adam Francis and Josh Sheppard all scoring. Freddie Brown and Sam Bunch put Loughborough ahead after the break, but Carter and Francis responded either side of the hour.
Jamie Elswood’s penalty made it 48-38 before Oscar Cawley crossed in the 72nd minute to keep Loughborough in contention.
However, another Elswood penalty sealed the win for Hornets.
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