Round 9 reviews of all English National League 1 matches

Esher 8 Leeds Carnegie 52

Leeds Carnegie continued their annihilation of all opposition put in front of them in National League One as they ran in another seven tries to beat Esher 52-8.

Leeds, who had won their opening eight games, took only 3 minutes to go ahead as Jon Goodridge raced in to give Jason Strange an easy conversion.  Leeds never looked back and had the game wrapped up by half time as Mike McDonald, Scott Mathie and John Dunbar added to Goodridge’s early try.  Esher could only manage their only points of the game thanks to a penalty from Neil Hallett and 40th minute try from Matteo Barbini.

After the break Leeds continued to find gaps in the Esher rearguard and yet again reached the half century of points as Henry Paul, Leigh Hinton (2) and Jason Strange went over to maintain their 100% league record.

Esher: Try; Barbini – Pens; Hallett

Leeds Carnegie: Try; Goodridge, McDonald, Mathie, Dunbar, Paul, Hinton (2), Strange
Cons; Strange (6)

Exeter 10 London Welsh 3

Exeter Chiefs put in a dogged performance to narrowly edge past a brave London Welsh side 10-3 at Sandy Park.

Early exchanges pointed towards a tight encounter with few chances being created by both sides and it continued throughout the game with both defences nullifying any attacking prowess the other offered.

London Welsh took the lead just after the half hour when Aled Thomas slotted a penalty for the Dragons to give them a 3-0 lead.  Exeter replied immediately as Lewis Stephenson pierced the visitors’ defence as went over to take his side into half time 5-3 in front.

The second half continued in much the same as the first with both sides failing in breaking down the others stern defence but Exeter wrapped the game up in the 66th minute when Chris Budgen crashed over to keep the Chiefs on the tails of Leeds at the top.

Exeter: Try; Stephenson, Budgen

London Welsh: Pens; Thomas

Nottingham 15 Bedford 7

Nottingham completed a brilliant second half fight back to beat Bedford 15-7 at Meadow Lane. 

Nottingham who started the day behind their opponents leap frog them with this victory and it was two tries in the last quarter that ensured their eighth victory of the season.

Points were sparse in the first period and it was only a David Jackson penalty that was the difference between the teams and sent Nottingham into half time 3-0 ahead.

However, Bedford came out from the break firing on all cylinders and their early pressure told when Billy Twelvetrees scythed through the Nottingham defence and scored a converted try for the visitors to lead 7-3.

Nottingham were unable to find gaps in the Blues defence and it wasn’t until the 66th minute when Jackson raced clear that the home side recaptured the lead.  The fly half duly converted his own try and then Joe Duffey wrapped the game up with Nottingham’s second try to move Nottingham into third place in National League One.

Nottingham: Try; Jackson, Duffey – Cons; Jackson – Pens; Jackson

Bedford: Try; Twelvetrees – Cons; Twelvetrees

Sedgley Park 3 Doncaster 41

Doncaster kept the pressure on the top four as they ran out convincing 41-3 winners against Sedgley Park at Park Lane.

Doncaster started the brighter and opened the scoring earlier thanks to a penalty and drop goal from Jamie Lennard.  Phil Jones replied with a penalty for the home side but Doncaster came flying back and put the game beyond doubt at half time.  A try from Donovan Van Vuuren and 11 more points from the boot of Lennard sent the visitors into the break 22-3 ahead.

Doncaster continued to dominate in the second half and scored their second try of the game when Simon Jenkins went over.  Two more tries from David Griffiths and Hudson Tonga’uiha secured the bonus point for Doncaster and moves them up to fifth place in National League One.

Sedgley Park: Pens; Jones

Doncaster: Try; Van Vuuren, Jenkins, Griffiths, Tonga’uiha – Cons; Lennard (3) – Pens; Lennard (4) – Drop Goal; Lennard

Rotherham 10 Plymouth Albion 10

A last minute penalty from Tom Barlow grabbed a dramatic 10-10 draw for Rotherham against Plymouth Albion at Clifton Lane.

Both teams were locked together in seventh and eighth in the table respectively and they were just as tight on the pitch as one kept on cancelling out the other.

In a tense first half, only three points were managed by either side as Keiran Hallett slotted a penalty for Albion to send the West Country outfit into the break in front.

After the interval both sides looked dangerous and Rotherham bagged the first try of the game as Neil Chivers went over and Barlow converted to send the home side 7-3 ahead.

Arran Cruickshanks replied for Albion as he raced clear to send the visitors in front and Hallett duly converted to give Albion a 10-7 lead with ten minutes left on the clock.  It was left then for Barlow to hold his nerve and snatch the draw with a penalty struck perfectly between the posts.

Rotherham: Try; Chivers – Cons; Barlow – Pens; Barlow

Plymouth Albion: Try; Cruickshanks – Cons; Hallett – Pens; Hallett

Cornish Pirates 19 Moseley 15

A try two minutes from time from Brian Tuohy snatched a narrow 19-15 victory for Cornish Pirates over Moseley.

In a close first half both sides struggled to manufacture any try scoring opportunities and it was left to the kickers to provide the points.  Pirates’ Rhys Jones knocked over two penalties and a drop goal to Moseley’s Richard Vasey’s one penalty to send the home side into half time 9-3 in front.

The West Country side then extended their lead five minutes into the second half when Bertrand Bedes dived over to score and give his side a comfortable 14-3 advantage.

However, Moseley responded and two tries in five minutes from Andrew Reay and Charlie Sharples and a Vasey conversion turned the game totally and Moseley went in front 15-14 with a quarter of an hour late.

The Pirates continued to press the Moseley defence and they finally broke them down when Tuohy burst through a gap to hand victory for the home side and move them up to seventh in the table.

Cornish Pirates: Try; Bedes, Tuohy – Pens; Jones (2) – Drop Goal; Jones

Moseley: Try; Reay, Sharples – Cons; Vasey – Drop Goal; Vasey

Coventry 29 Manchester 18

Coventry handed Manchester their ninth defeat of the season as they ran out 29-18 winners over the basement club at The Butts Park Arena.

Manchester have struggled all season and have only collected a meagre three points all campaign, so they faced an uphill challenge when Myles Dorrian’s penalty handed Coventry an early lead.  Joe Knowles replied for Manchester but Coventry then started to find gaps in the Manchester defence.

Firstly, a try from Donovan Sanders gave Coventry the lead again and then a brace from Laurence McGlone along with another six points from the boot of Dorrian sent the home side into half time 24-6 in front after Knowles had kicked another penalty for the visitors.

Manchester rallied in the second half with a couple of tries from Andre Wilson and Knowles but another McGlone try to seal his hat trick handed Coventry the bonus point to move them up to tenth place in the league.

Coventry: Try; Sanders, McGlone (3) – Cons; Dorrian (3) – Pens; Dorrian
Manchester: Try; Wilson, Knowles – Cons; Knowles – Pens; Knowles

Newbury 26 Otley 20

Thirteen points from the boot of Gareth Griffiths helped Newbury to a narrow 26-20 victory against Otley and helps move them away from the drop zone.
Both sides have had a bad start to the season with Newbury being the only one of the two teams to have a victory next to their name, so this relegation tussle was always going to be a tight contest.

The first half offered little in the way of points and Otley took a narrow 8-6 lead into the break thanks to a try from Luther Burrell and penalty from Tom Rhodes.

The game opened up in the second half and Newbury took the lead on 50 minutes when Matthew Williams broke free to score for the home side.  A Robin Kitching try then handed back the lead to Otley but a late flourish from the home side ensured victory for the Blues. 

A converted Nathaniel Catt try, along with a penalty and drop goal from Griffiths moved the home side 26-15 in front.  A second try from Kitching was too little too late for the visitors who stay languishing at the lower end of the table and one point clear of Manchester at the bottom.

Newbury: Try; Williams, Catt – Cons; Griffiths (2) – Pens; Griffiths (3) – Drop Goal; Griffiths
Otley: Try; Burrell, Kitching (2) – Cons; Rhodes – Pens; Rhodes

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