National league 1 results round up week13 - round 13...
By Tom Little.
December 2 2013
...30th November 2013.
Week 13 results - 30thNovember.
Blackheath 20 20 Blaydon
Doncaster Knights 24 17 Rosslyn Park
Esher 14 20 Coventry Rugby
Fylde 34 26 Richmond
Loughborough Students 36 28 Cinderford
Tynedale 40 29 Hull Ionians
Wharfedale 32 29 Old Albanian
Worthing Raiders 27 32 Henley Hawks
It was not only the top two games which provided exciting and close encounters but all the fixtures on Saturday saw no more than 11 points between the victors and losers.
One of the key games was between league leaders Doncaster Knights and their closest challengers Rosslyn Park. An early home lead was soon nullified by a Park fight-back in the second half led by their impressive scrum as they had a late penalty to make the scores even. Winger Tyson Lewis after his early try exploits last week earned the home side their win with a late, late try. A win that keeps Doncaster 6 points ahead of the chasing pack including Rosslyn Park and now Coventry Rugby.
Equally absorbing was the Coventry Rugby away win at Esher. A win that keeps Coventry in third place but puts them on equal points with Rosslyn Park. A dominant Coventry scrum led to an almost unheard of 3 strikes against the head and provided the groundwork for this excellent away victory over a top 4 side. Coventry Rugby never behind in the match had two tries disallowed in a dominant 3rd quarter but had to withstand a last 15 minutes as they earned a justified win.
The return of Dan Solomi earned the plaudits as he helped Wharfedale cement their 5th place with a hard earned victory over a resilient Old Albanian side. An early lead by the home side was soon cancelled out helped by a yellow card. A late penalty try seemed to have sealed it for Wharfedale but Old Albanian kept going with two late tries earning them the two bonus points.
On the face of it an easy win for Fylde over a struggling Richmond side. However despite a hat-trick by winger Olly Brennand, relegation zone Richmond never gave up and a late surge brought them to within 8 points of the home side but no bonus point.
It was a similar story as Loughborough Students overcame a resilient Cinderford side. Again an 8 point deficit earned no bonus point for them. Centre Rhys Owen provided the damage for the Students but despite two late tries Cinderford were unable to get the important bonus point, leaving them on the same points as Richmond.
Proving how tight this league is was the fact that an in form Blaydon could only draw away at Blackheath. The draw drops Blaydon to 8th place whilst Blackheath at last escape the final relegation place. A very tight game came down to a last minute try to Blackheath which earned them a creditable draw.
The South coast saw a meeting of last season’s two promoted National League 2 South teams as Worthing Raiders entertained Henley Hawks. A dominant first 60 minutes by the visitors saw them cruising to an early victory helped by the inform goal kicking of fly-half James Comben and his brace of tries. Yet as other teams have found to their cost against the Raiders, they never give up and 3 tries in the last 4 minutes earned them two bonus points. A result which keeps both sides safely in mid-table.
The final game saw the battle of the bottom two sides Tynedale and Hull Ionians. A good start by Dale was soon counteracted by the efforts of the Ionians forwards which left Tynedale with a narrow halftime lead. However, more backs pressure saw Dale seemingly cruising to an easy victory but a late surge by Hull Ionians gave them a justified bonus point. A win for Tynedale that brings them within 5 points of the safety zone.
Tom Little
Coventry Rugby press office
1st December 2013.
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