National League One Round 7 Reviews in full from heavensgame.com

Sedgley Park 7 Leeds Carnegie 52

Leeds Carnegie maintained their 100% record to their National League One season as they thrashed Sedgley Park 52-7. Leeds dominated from the first whistle and four tries in each half handed the table-toppers their seventh consecutive win of the campaign

Sedgley Park were unable to cope with Leeds attacking ability and the game was over as a contest at half-time when tries by Leigh Hinton(2), penalty and Scott Armstrong gave the visitors a 24-0 lead at the break.

The second half was much of the same with Leeds notching another four tries from Jon Pendlebury, Danny Paul, Kearnan Myall and James Brooks to break through the half century. Sedgley park managed a try in the last minute when Peter Swatkins dived over but it was little consolation for the home side who stay in the bottom half with the victors Leeds cementing their place at the top of the table.

Sedgley Park: Try; Swatkins – Cons;Jones

Leeds Carnegie: Try; Hinton (2), penalty, Armstrong, Pendlebury, Paul, Myall, Brooks – Cons;Hinton (6)

Plymouth Albion 14 Exeter 41

Exeter kept the pressure on Leeds at the top as they ran out comfortable 41-14 winners against Plymouth Albion in a fiercely contested West County derby.
In a tight first half both teams got on the scoreboard with a penalty apiece but it was the visitors who scored the first try of the game. A rolling maul finally ended up with Tom Johnson touching down to give the Chiefs a 10-3 advantage.

However, Plymouth responded with their own try and Martin Rice bundled over to reduce the margin after Keiran Hallett had kicked another penalty for Albion. Exeter grabbed a try just before the break from Lewis Stevenson to go into half-time 20-14 ahead.

After the interval, Exeter's all-round game improved and they began to dominate the game and the pressure was too much for the Albion defence as they leaked three second half tries. Josh Drauniniu, Nic Sestaret and Matt Cornwell all went over and Plymouth had no answer and were unable to add any points to their half time tally. The victory keeps Exeter in second place and Plymouth stay in mid-table.

Plymouth Albion: Try; Rice – Pens; Hallett (3)

Exeter: Try; Johnson, Stevenson, Drauniniu, Sestaret, Cornwell – Cons; Steenson (5) – Pens; Steenson (2)

Bedford 37 Otley 12

Bedford maintain their place in third place as they beat lowly Otley 37-12 at Goldington Road. In a lacklustre display by the home side they managed to notch their sixth win of the campaign thanks to tries from Will Harries, Gregor Gillanders, Mouritz Botha and Ian Davey to also gain the all-important bonus point.
The Blues struggled throughout and took a 20-12 lead into half-time after both Harries and Gillanders had dived over to add to a couple of penalties from Billy Twelvetrees.

Otley, who have yet to win again since their promotion last year, were unable to breach the Blues defence and were only on the score sheet thanks to the boot of Tom Rhodes who kick four first half penalties.

The second half started with a Twelvetrees penalty and then Bedford ran the game and Botha extended the lead before Davey raced home to add the bonus point and to keep the Blues on the tail of leaders Leeds Carnegie.

Bedford: Try; Harries, Gillanders, Botha, Davey – Cons; Twelvetrees (4) – Pens; Twelvetrees (3)

Otley: Pens; Rhodes (4)

Moseley 24 Nottingham 26

A last minute converted try by Tim Taylor snatched a 26-24 victory for Nottingham in a tightly contested game against Moseley.

In the first half Moseley took the lead when Richard Vasey kicked an early drop goal but Taylor responded with a penalty to restore parity. The first try was then scored for the home side as Henry Trinder outpaced the Nottingham defence to score in the corner. Nottingham replied and Alex Dodge crashed over to level the scores at 8-8 but Moseley regained the lead through the boot of Vasey. The fly-half kicked two unanswered penalties to take the home side into the break 14-8 ahead.

The second half was similar to the first, with both teams cancelling one another out. First, Roland Nirmalendran went over for the visitors to reduce the deficit to one but Moseley responded and Charlie Sharples latched on to Jack Adams kick to extend the home side's lead once more. Two penalties Taylor levelled the scores at 19-19 but Moseley went in front again when James Rodwell scored to take the scores to 24-19. However, it was a last gasp effort from Taylor to level the scores and the fly-half got up to slot the conversion through the posts to grab victory for Nottingham.

Moseley: Try; Trinder, Sharples, Rodwell – Pens; Vasey (2) – Drop Goal; Vasey

Nottingham: Try; Dodge, Nirmalendran, Taylor – Cons; Taylor – Pens; Taylor (3)

Doncaster 34 Coventry 22

Doncaster ran in four tries as they beat Coventry 34-22 at Castle Park and move up to fifth place in National League One.

In a tight first half both teams were finding gaps in the opposition's rearguard and Doncaster went over three times through Bryn Griffiths, penalty and Bevan Armitage. Coventry did notch two of their own scores with Myles Dorrian and Jamie Miller going over for the visitors to send them into half-time trailing 24-15.

After the break, the tries began to dry up and the scoring was left down to the boot. Two penalties from Jamie Lennard extended Doncaster's lead but Coventry's Ron McLean replied with his own penalty to keep Coventry in the game.

However, Doncaster wrapped the game up when Donavan Van Vuuren went over from close range to add the bonus point after constant pressure in the Coventry 22 and Lennard added the conversion. Nathan Jones did grab a late try for Coventry but Doncaster's defence stayed strong and nullified a Coventry comeback to grab the win.

Doncaster: Try; Griffiths, penalty, Armitage, Van Vuuren – Cons; Lennard (4) – Pens; Lennard (2)

Coventry: Try; Dorrian, Miller, Jones – Cons; McLean (2) – Pens; McLean 
 
Newbury 9 London Welsh 20

Newbury continue to struggle with life in National League One as they lost their sixth game of the season 20-9 against London Welsh.

Newbury would have gone into half-time with every confidence as they only trailed the Dragons by one point as three penalties from Gareth Griffiths gave the Blues an early lead. However, London Welsh replied and a break-away try from Tom Tombleson reduced the home side's lead and then a conversion and a penalty from Aled Thomas handed the visitors a 10-9 lead.

The game became scrappy after the break and Newbury were unable to get any flow to their game with handling errors becoming a trait of their performance. London Welsh extended their lead when the referee awarded a penalty try after constant pressure by the Dragons. Another conversion by Thomas and a late penalty made sure of the win and moves London Welsh up to sixth in the table and keeps Newbury languishing in the lower half of National League One.

Newbury: Pens; Griffiths (3)

London Welsh: Try; Tombleson, penalty – Cons; Thomas (2) – Pens; Thomas (2)

Esher 36 Manchester 19

Manchester stay rooted to the foot of the table after their seventh consecutive defeat and this time it was Esher who were victorious as they ran out comfortable 36-19 winners against the basement boys.

Manchester who have only managed two points all season struggled from the first whistle and Esher took advantage of basic errors in the Manchester defence. Three first half tries from Douglas Flockhart, James Hayter and Neil Starling handed the home side a convincing lead as Manchester could only manage three Gareth Wynne penalties to take into the break with Esher 19-9 ahead.

The second half saw Esher notch two more tries to gain the winning bonus point as George Lowe and Sebastian Stegmann both scythed through a tiring Manchester defence to dive over. Manchester could only manage a solitary consolation score as Craig Wilson latched onto a Wynne kick but it was all in vain for the visitors as they are still yet to grab their first league victory.

Esher: Try; Flockhart, Hayter, Starling, Lowe, Stegmann, - Cons; Hallett (4) – Pens; Hallett

Manchester: Try; Wilson – Cons; Wynne – Pens; Wynne (4)

Cornish Pirates 28 Rotherham Titans 32

Rotherham Titans edged out Cornish Pirates narrowly 32-28 in a close contest at the Camborne Recreation Ground.

It was an ebb-and-flow game with the lead switching hands throughout the game. Rotherham grabbed an early lead when Mike Whitehead broke through the Pirates defence score in the corner. The Pirates replied with a couple of Tom Luke penalties.

The home side then extended their lead when Bertrand Bedes latched on to a grubber kick to score under the posts. Rotherham responded and took a half-time lead when Jon Feeley outpaced the Pirates defence. Tom Barlow added the extras and a couple more penalties to send the Titans in 20-17 up.

After the break the Pirates regained the lead as Brian Tuohy crashed over and then their lead lengthened as Dan Seal went over in the corner. The Titans came back at yet again and firstly Jon Skurr bundled over and the game was won when Barlow breached the Pirates defence and went over and duly converted to send the Titans up to seventh place in National League One.

Cornish Pirates: Try; Bedes. Tuohy, Seal - Cons; Luke (2) - Pens- Luke (3)

Rotherham Titans: Try; Whitehead, Feeley, Skurr, Barlow - Cons; Barlow (3) - Pens; Barlow, Whitehead

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