Plus, National Two East’s Henley Hawks leave it late again as they head into an important December with six wins in a row (Photo Credit: Dennis Dixon)

A fitting opening to a series of intriguing fixtures towards the top of National One

“If anybody is yet to watch a ‘real’ game of rugby where two quality sides go at it for 80 minutes, I think you saw that today.”

These words from Rotherham Titans (3rd) boss Harvey Biljon could well apply to the next few weeks in National One as the current top four face a sequence of fixtures against one another but in the first instalment of this intriguing segment of the campaign, no one can argue with Biljon’s thoughts.

With his third-placed Titans welcoming unbeaten league leaders Rams to South Yorkshire, it had all the ingredients to be an epic battle. A cluster of club volunteers had worked tirelessly to ensure the game would go ahead in the face of Storm Bert, and those in attendance at Clifton Lane were treated to an absorbing contest.

Despite the challenging weather conditions, Rams produced a moment of quality to open the scoring as centre Rowan Grundy executed a superb chip which Solodrau Radianirova latched on to before Rotherham’s Lloyd Hayes replied with two penalties.

It was first blood to the Titans after the interval as Rob Povey touched down but just after the hour, the prolific Max Hayman crossed the whitewash to nudge Rams 14-13 ahead.

But the decisive moment in this battle came 13 minutes from time as, after another three points from the boot of Hayes, Aidan Shortall acrobatically dived into the corner to give Rotherham a 21-14 advantage.

Rams, unsurprisingly, went on the offensive but Rotherham stood firm in defence to see out the victory and end the 10-match winning streak of their visitors.

The first defeat of the term for Rams has seen them drop to second in the standings after title rivals Richmond clinched a gritty 21-6 win over Sedgley Park (12th) at The Athletic Ground.

Rams do remain level on points with Richmond (the London-based club are top because they have a larger number of draws (1) than Rams) – but Rob Powell’s troops will be at the summit when they visit Rams in their next game on December 6th.

Second-half tries from James Langston, Will Goffey and Toby Saysell saw Richmond maintain their unbeaten record heading into a Christmas period where they also face Rotherham and fourth-placed Rosslyn Park.

Also in Round 11, there was an important victory for Leicester Lions (13th). After disappointing setbacks against table rivals Darlington Mowden Park and Esher in November, Gareth Collins’s side gave themselves a major shot in the arm going into next month as Charlie Davies’ try 10 minutes from the end sealed a 15-12 victory away at ninth-placed Sale FC.

Bury sink TJs as table-toppers perfect start comes to an end

“Committed. Resilient.”

If any side in National Two East were going to topple league leaders Tonbridge Juddians, perhaps these two qualities were more important than most. TJs came into Round 11 on a 10-match winning run and with fellow title candidates Dorking (2nd) and Guernsey (3rd) not in action due to their clash being postponed, Jordan Turner-Hall and Seb Sherwood’s men had the chance to stretch their advantage at the summit.

They arrived at GK IPA Haberden, the home of Bury St Edmunds, aiming to extend their own perfect record but the hosts had other ideas.

In the words of Director of Rugby Jacob Ford, a committed and resilient performance saw the Wolfpack claim a 32-21 victory to end the unblemished start of the table toppers.

After three straight defeats, this was the ideal tonic for Bury going into the second break of the season but they were behind on 42 minutes when Tom Nicoll’s try pushed TJs 21-12 in front.

But the home side took hold of proceedings and powered to victory with Trystan Andrews and Euan Rees going over before the boot of Charlie Reed sealed the deal five minutes from time.

TJs departed Suffolk empty-handed meaning their lead at the top remains at four points but of course, second-placed Dorking now have a game in hand.

Welcome win for Worthing in battle at the bottom 

Worthing’s (13th) trip to fellow bottom two side Colchester was arguably the pick of the fixtures in National Two East.

With Colchester breaking their duck in Round 10 against Sevenoaks, the hosts had put themselves in a position to conclude a positive November with another big result.

As for the visitors, they rocked up to Raven Park rock bottom of National Two East and without a win to their name, but black-and-white facts such as this sometimes only tell you so much.

 

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The Raiders came into Round 11 having collected six bonus points from their last five games and that ability to keep on going suggested Fred Pierrepont’s boys were taking steps in the right direction.

But now they will take a confident stride into December – and into a crucial home fixture against 12th-placed Sevenoaks –  after securing their first victory of the season.

Their 20-14 triumph over Colchester was their first on the road for 14 months and they fully deserved this win, with a solid set-piece and strong defence the nuts and bolts behind their success.

First-half tries from Jimmy Staples and Rob Ure were followed up in the second 40 by Jack Forrest before prop Oliver Streeter wrapped up the victory in Essex. The win for Worthing has seen them swap places with Colchester and just three points separates the bottom three after Sevenoaks claimed an excellent 14-12 success at Westcombe Park (8th).

Can we really keep calling Lymm a surprise package?

A story is developing in National Two North.

Regular readers will know we have highlighted leaders Lymm a fair few times during the first three months of the season but as the Cheshire club prepare to enter the Christmas period, the surprise package of National League Rugby may no longer be a surprise.

At the start of October, Director of Rugby Adam Fletcher told the National League Rugby Preview Show that Lymm didn’t want to be ‘a flash in the pan’ and his side have not let him or head coach Andy Davies down.

After passing their biggest test of the campaign against title rivals Leeds Tykes two weeks ago, Lymm will go into December as the only club with a 100 per cent record across National League Rugby after a 26-0 bonus-point success against Wharfedale in Round 11.

Scores from Oli Higginson, Rob Makin, Sam Wadsworth and Thomas Manaton helped Lymm to yet another maximum and they have now matched the number of points they achieved in the whole of last season.

Lymm now have a five-point gap between themselves and second-placed Sheffield, who they visit in Round 12. Come away from Abbeydale Park with a positive outcome – a ground where Sheffield have lost just once in the last 15 games – and the narrative around Lymm will only continue to grow.

Titchener holds his nerve as Henley leave it late…again

It wasn’t quite the comfortable afternoon Henley Hawks boss Luke Allen may have been hoping for, especially with how Round 10 ended for his side.

Last week, three tries in the final four minutes saw Henley stun Havant (9th) to clinch a 36-28 win and there were late heroics again from the Hawks in Round 11.

In truth, it was never going to be a straightforward afternoon for Henley given the weather and the quality of the opponent in Canterbury (6th) but Spencer Hayhow’s last-gasp score and a nerveless conversion in appalling conditions from Max Titchener snatched a 17-16 victory at Dry Leas.

The hosts had trailed 13-5 at the break thanks to a Garry Jones try and the boot of Frank Reynolds and despite Beau Delaney giving the Hawks the ideal start to the second 40, the visiting fly-half kept Canterbury in front with another three points.

However, Henley weren’t to be denied a sixth win on the bounce and the fifth-placed side will head into their opening match of December against leaders Tonbridge Juddians with confidence still oozing through their veins.

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