Week 24 - round 24 national league 1 previews...

Friday, Saturday 4th- 5th March 2016 including Blaydon v Coventry rugby.

Week 24 Fixtures Friday/Saturday 4th/5th March.

Friday          Rosslyn Park                              v        Esher                      19.45

Saturday     Ampthill & District                    v        Hartpury College

                     Blackheath                                 v        Richmond

                     Blaydon                                      v        Coventry Rugby    14.30

                     Cinderford                                  v        Fylde

                     Darlington Mowden Park         v       Plymouth Albion

                     Henley Hawks                             v       Hull Ionians

                     Wharfedale                                  v       Loughborough Students  

Week 24 sees two key matches between the top 4 sides, which may go some way to clarify who is favourite for promotion, whilst amongst the bottom 6, four of the teams play each other, with the two remaining ones having difficult home games.

Blackheath, whose recent defeats have seen them slip down to 3rd place and now 12 points behind leaders Richmond, have the chance to slightly redeem themselves as Richmond visit them. However I can’t see that Richmond at this late stage will slip up in their search for the Promised Land, although it might be a close tussle.

Surprise package Ampthill & District, now up to 4th place have second placed Hartpury College as their visitors. College are 10 points behind the leaders, so this is a must win for them if they have any title pretensions. An experienced home side have the chance to spring a surprise in this contest.

Two form teams Darlington Mowden Park and Plymouth Albion, meet in the north-east, in what is expected to be another close contest. A win for the home side could see them leapfrog into 4th place, whilst a win for Albion could see them challenge for 3rd spot. Home advantage might just swing this one.

Friday night is London derby time as Rosslyn Park host visitors Esher to the Rock. With both sides out of the title race, this is a difficult one to predict but home advantage might just prove decisive.

Bottom side Cinderford, now 11 points from safety, have a difficult home fixture against a Fylde side which has been inconsistent this season and are back in 9th place. This is surely the last chance for Cinderford to make a break for safety , and in facing Fylde they do stand a chance against a side whose away form is sketchy to say the least.Another close and nervous contest in prospect.

Blaydon, still with a game in hand over the bottom three are out of the relegation zone and up to 12th place following their bonus point win over Henley Hawks last Saturday, have Coventry Rugby visiting the north-east looking to arrest a series of 3 consecutive losses. A full preview of this game will follow.

A crucial game for Henley Hawks, as they face 11th placed  Hull Ionians on Saturday. Both sides are in the midst of poor runs and this is a game which can go either way, but the Hawks at home should be slight favourites for this one. Another loss by Henley would leave them too much to do, but a loss for Hull Ionians could suck them into the danger zone.

The final game sees two more struggling sides Wharfedale and Loughborough Students meet in the Dales. Wharfedale in 14th place face the Students in 13th although the Students do have a game in hand. Another difficult one to predict as it is crucial for both sides, but Dale at home might just be slight favourites.

Catch up Week Saturday 27th February Results

Blaydon                                       40          14        Henley Hawks        crowd   185

Darlington Mowden Park        14          12        Blackheath                            804

Fylde                                            19          29        Ampthill & District              535

Blaydon came off the best in these catch up fixtures with a home bonus point win over a Henley Hawks side now surely set for relegation. The win lifted Blaydon out of the relegation zone up to 12th place and still with a game in hand over the bottom three.

Not so fortunate was 3rd placed Blackheath who had to settle for a losing bonus point at Darlington Mowden Park, as they failed to make up ground on the leaders. Another close game saw DMP hang onto their narrow half-time lead for the win which brings them to just 5 points behind 4th place.

Ampthill & District continue to surprise many, this time with a win at Fylde. A narrow half-time lead for the home side was overturned as Ampthill turned the screw in the second half for a deserved win, which moves them up to 4th place.

MATCH PREVIEW  BLAYDON  V  COVENTRY RUGBY SATURDAY 5TH MATCH 2016.

This coming Saturday 5th March sees Coventry Rugby make their long trek up to the north-east to face Blaydon at their Crow Trees ground for a 2.30pm kick off. Another crucial game as Coventry need to avoid a fourth consecutive loss, which ironically was the situation earlier in the season before meeting Blaydon at the BPA, where they comprehensively won 38 nil.

Founded in 1888 Blaydon have experienced  former Newcastle Falcons hooker Micky Ward, both as player coach and Director of Rugby. After finishing a disappointing 8th last season Blaydon are currently in 12th position on 39  match points, with 15  losses and 7  wins. A disappointing start to the season saw them only win 2 out of their first 10 games, but since then they have managed to win 5 out of the next 13 leaving them in 12th place, still with a game in hand over the bottom three.

Why the poor start to the season could be a culmination of things with injuries to key experienced players and then the inconsistent availability of Falcons dr players.

At home Blaydon are still a force to be reckoned with having beaten Blackheath, Esher, Rosslyn Park and Fylde, but have still lost 5 at home to Wharfedale, Hartpury College, Plymouth Albion, Ampthill and to leaders Richmond by just 3-10. Away from home they have only beaten Wharfedale. On their day at home they can up their game and beat anyone in this league, as Henley Hawks found out to their cost last Saturday losing 40-14.

Once again Blaydon commenced the season with a nucleus of last season’s squad with a sprinkling of new faces including props Jack Beckwith with Sam White from Tynedale, and winger Rob Rekis from the Colts. The close connection with Newcastle Falcons has seen a number of dr players including key playmaker fly-half Brett Connon, winger/centre James Cooney, scrum-half Ruaridh Dawson remains from last season, and England U 20’s No 8 Callum Chick.

Renowned for their driving maul and close in work Blaydon have an experienced front row with props Robbie Kilbraier, Andrew Foster and Trevor Davison, with hookers Dave Nelson and Victor Guignourd. Veteran lock Chris Wearmouth is still putting in the hard yards and scoring tries, well backed up by Will Whitty, although Will received a red card on Saturday against the Hawks, Andrew Archibald and Shaun English. The backrow has evergreen player coach Jason Smithson still scoring tries with Gavin Jones at No 8 and flanker Keith Laughlin.

Andrew Baggett remains at fly-half and accomplished goal-kicker, with full-back Rhodri Adamson and scrum-half and utility back Nathan Horsfall. Centres  Tom Bramwell and Tom Grimes remain as does try scoring wing Fraser Wilson with recent returnee from the Falcons winger Zach Kibirige.

This is a crucial game for Coventry Rugby after three successive defeats, as they look to win away for the first time since November. However they will take heart from their last performance against high flying Esher, where they were close to an excellent victory. Coventry will have to be at their best to get something out of this game as Blaydon can raise their game at home.

Tom Little

Coventry Rugby press office

1st March 2016