By Tom Little
October 27 2014

…including Macclesfield v Coventry Rugby.

Blaydon                                        32          19           Old Albanian

Cinderford                                   17          19           Rosslyn Park

Darlington Mowden Park          29         29            Fylde

Esher                                                5         22           Ealing Tfs

Hartpury College                          53         12          Tynedale

Macclesfield                                  13          21          Coventry Rugby

Richmond                                      36          27          Blackheath

Wharfedale                                   38          20          Loughborough Students   

An interesting Saturday where none of the then top 4 sides were able to get bonus point wins with excellent home performances from Macclesfield, Cinderford and Darlington MP  which went some way to nullifying their more fancied opponents even though they were unable to win. Impressive goal-kicking were a feature of Week 8 by the usual suspects Chris Burton-Hartpury College, Cliffie Hodgson –Coventry, Gary Law-Darlington MP, Tom Davidson-Wharfedale, Mark Davies-Cinderford and Rob Kirby-Richmond. 

The London derby saw Esher put up a strong home performance against leaders Ealing Tfs in the first half only behind  7-5 at half-time. However the second half saw Ealing’s pack take more control with an impressive game by back-rower Arthur Ellis as they took advantage of a home yellow card to control the second half even if unable to get the bonus point try.

There was a classic encounter as the strong front five of Darlington Mowden Park had a free scoring Fylde as their visitors. Two penalty tries to the home side with Gary Law’s fine kicking saw them on their way and it needed a late try by winger and try machine Jordan Dorrington to give Fylde the bonus point draw. Despite gaining three points Fylde drop down to 3^rd place.

More impressive goal-kicking was in evidence from Mark Davies as Cinderford  gave Rosslyn Park a scare. An exchange of penalties saw the lead fluctuating between both sides over the final ten minutes and a late missed one by Mark Davies finally cost the home side a win. The performance of Cinderford belied their 14^th place and surely they will start converting these close losses to essential wins. Park go up to 2^nd place in light of this win.

Another side to belie their lowly position as still winless and pointless Macclesfield gave visitors Coventry Rugby a mighty scare. Leading at half-time after an impressive pack performance helped by Coventry missing some clear cut chances and also suffering 2 yellow cards, Macclesfield couldn’t match their opponents in the second half with another try by winger Dom Lespierre and goal-kicking by Cliffie Hodgson gave Coventry the win, although the lack of a bonus point drops Coventry down to 5^th place.

The side that took Coventry’s place in fourth was Richmond whose bonus point win over London rivals Blackheath was helped by the return of full-back and goal-kicker Rob Kirby. An early first half surge by the home side saw them score 3 tries, leaving Blackheath always playing catch up. All credit to them for coming back strongly only behind 19-15 at half-time. Two more early home scores seemed to seal it but once again Blackheath fought back with two tries of their own, matters were finally settled with a late Rob Kirby penalty.

Hartpury College continued with their impressive start to the season with a large bonus point win over visitors Tynedale. It was the better finishing by the home side, who ran in three first half tries to lead 24-7 at half-time which proved the difference. Another 5 tries followed in the second half allowing both centre Jaike Carter and No 8 Dan Thomas to complete their hat-tricks. Despite the heavy loss Tynedale did have plenty of possession but without the cutting edge of their opponents, a win that takes College up to 6^th place.

Another side to make little use of their own possession Old Albanian found their trip to Blaydon un-rewarding as the home side’s clinical finishing both in their forwards and backs left their visitors still without a win in the league this season. A loss that leaves OA still stuck in 15^th place with only 2 points and leaves Blaydon in 10^th place with a 50/50 record.

The final game saw Wharfedale come from behind for the fourth game running to finally get a win, this time over visitors Loughborough Students .Only trailing by 2 points at half-time Wharfedale must have seen their chance as the power of their pack took over with 4 second half tries, culminating in a late penalty try which sums up their front five dominance. Centre Tom Davidson also gave Dale a head start during the game with his goal-kicking. A crucial win for Wharfedale moving them clear of the relegation zone  but leaving the Students too close for comfort.

Tom Little

Coventry Rugby Press Office

27^th October 2014.

Week 8 - league 1 results round up 25th October 2014…

Discussion started by Unofficial Coventry Rugby (IP Logged), 27/10/2014 12:28

Unofficial Coventry Rugby
27/10/2014 12:28

What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.

Reply Quote Report

Goto: Forum List•Message List•Search• Log In

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment. We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals. We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards. If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing abuse@sportnetwork.net