The constitution of National 2 North this season shows little change from last season and consists of eight Yorkshire sides, two from Lancashire, two from Cheshire and two from the North-East. The fixtures played on November 9th saw two Yorkshire County derbies, one Roses game and four non-derby games.
The first of these fixtures saw 8th-placed Hull Ionians at home to 12th-placed Harrogate where a very close game resulted in a 25-23 win for the home side with both sides scoring three tries. Lewis Minikin was playing his 150th game for Ionians and landed two conversions and two penalty goals. Lock Callum Sanderson of Ionians took the M-o-M award in front of a crowd of 302.
The second fixture saw Wharfedale travel to Abbeydale Park to take on Sheffield RUFC and despite holding a 13-12 lead at the break finished up a well-beaten side as Sheffield scored seven tries to Wharfe’s three. M-o-M was the home winger Chris Hooper who scored two tries in his sides 43-20 victory in front of 311 spectators.
In a high-scoring Roses clash Otley were no match for hosts Fylde who built up a 28-10 interval lead before winning by 56-29, scoring eight tries against Otley’s four. This match was watched by the highest attendance of the day in N2N where 550 saw a decisive home win with Fylde’s full-back Freddie Reader taking the M-o-M award.
In a basement battle 14th-placed Tynedale were away to 13th-placed Sheffield Tigers and recorded their first win of the season when they beat the home side by 29-24 after leading 17-7 at the break. Tyne scored five tries to the Tigers four with their No8 Charlie Richards posting a hat-trick of tries and being rightly awarded the M-o-M honours before 189 spectators.
In the top of the table clash at Lymm the home side ran out winners by 30-26 after leading 20-19 at the break. They retained their unbeaten nine-match winning run whilst inflicting the Leeds side with their first defeat of the season. Both sides scored four tries and Paddy Jennings, the Lymm left-winger took the M-o-M honours. This high-scoring game was always in doubt as both sides put on a fine display of attacking rugby in front of a crowd of 445.
Billingham made the long cross-country trek across the Pennine’s to Preston where the Hoppers posted a 48-22 victory after trailing 22-14 at half-time. The second half saw the home side score 34 unanswered points. The hosts scored seven tries to Bill’s four and their fly-half Greg Smith took the M-o-M honours. The attendance was 375.
Finally, Hull RUFC travelled to Chester to play a side they had not met for several years . Chester won the game by 39-19 after leading 17-7 at the break and were good value for their victory. Hull scored three tries following some very good line-out discipline near the try-line but Chester were more dominant, scoring five tries. Their prop Josh Woods was voted M-o-M before 240 spectators.
The position at the top of the table now shows Lymm still with a 100% record with 45 points with Leeds Tykes on 41 points and Sheffield RUFC on 40.
The bottom three are Tynedale with 14 points above Sheffield Tigers and Harrogate whop are both on 12.
The top games for November 16th (based on league placings) are Tynedale v Harrogate where 12th meet 14th; Wharfedale v Preston Grasshoppers where 5th meet 6th; Otley v Sheffield Tigers where 9th meet 13th and Sheffield RUFC v Hull Ionians where 3rd take on 7th. Wherever you are, enjoy your rugby.
Ferensian
HULL RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL CLUB 