By Tom Little.
September 8 2013

Results Week 1/Round 1 Saturday 7th September

Blaydon                       9                34           Loughborough Students

Cinderford                  6                11           Rosslyn Park

Doncaster                  47               17           Blackheath

Henley Hawks           51               17          Tynedale

Hull Ionians               12               41          Coventry Rugby

Old Albanian             41               45          Fylde

Richmond                  22               28          Esher

Wharfedale               38               34          Worthing Raiders

A very high scoring start to the new season, although whether the defence coaches will be as pleased as the crowds is debatable.  All four of the pre-season favourites:- Coventry Rugby, Doncaster Knights, Esher and Rosslyn Park all won. Of the promoted sides only Henley won although both Worthing Raiders and Hull Ionians were not disgraced.

The only real surprise was the away win by Loughborough Students over last season’s third placed Blaydon. New recruits the Pons brothers, Ben in the back-row and MOM fullback Jack Pons provided some Championship experience, with Jack’s 2 try’s proving decisive. Any worries that the new intake would take time to settle were soon allayed as the fitness and ability to run in long distance tries gave them 3 tries. It appears that the Students were able to capitalise of 6 mistakes giving them their bonus point win.

In some quarters firm title favourites Rosslyn Park almost met their match in the Forest against Cinderford as both sides found  both defences on top in a very tight game. The lowest scoring game of Round 1 saw it 6 all at halftime and it took a late try from experienced centre Lee Starling , a new recruit form Ealing Tfs to seal it.

The more realistic favourites, full time Doncaster Knights, had on the face of it a large win over Blackheath, but they only had a narrow lead at half-time with Blackheath scoring through the ubiquitous Dave Allen. With Mr Allen scoring again early in the 2^nd half, it took 5 late home tries to seal it, as the greater fitness and pace of the Doncaster team took over. Good to see Paul Jarvis using his pace to score a late try.

Another top 4 favourite Esher had somewhat of a struggle away at neighbours Richmond. As is often the case in local derbies it was nip and tuck all the way with no more than 8 points separating the sides at any one time. Despite poor discipline by Esher which saw them receive 3 yellow cards and down to 13 players at one time, this gave them the necessary steel to pull ahead  with a late Spencer Sutherland try clinching it.

League newcomers Hull Ionians were given an object lesson in clinical finishing as Coventry Rugby ran in 6 tries showing a flair and pace that the home side couldn’t match. The Coventry side continued on with their defensive prowess from last season and with the home scrum in some array gave them a platform. However, Ionians showed enough forward  power especially in the back-row with the recent loan signings from Rotherham to quickly learn and not be overawed by other teams, but they do need to take their chances from all the possession that they  had.

An even better performance from a league newcomer was the comprehensive victory by Henley Hawks over Tynedale. With the impressive No 10 James Comben  running the show Henley ran in 7 tries, helped by more poor discipline by the visitors. Pacey centres Tom Allen and Martin Nutt scored 3 tries between them and Tynedale were comprehensively beaten. Dale are notoriously slow starters to this league as well as poor travellers so perhaps not too much should be read into this result apart from suggesting that Henley should have no fears of staying up.

Another league newcomer Worthing Raiders found their visit to Wharfedale slightly more rewarding than first appeared with just 10 minutes to go. A dominant home pack led by the returning icon Rob Baldwin gave them a commanding 25-5 half-time lead, once again helped by poor Raiders discipline. Dale now with an even  bigger lead of 38-12 with 10 minutes to go, then lost shape as the Raiders got their running game into gear,  4 late tries gave them the two bonus points and an early introduction that you will meet some effective and strong packs in this league, which need to be nullified.

The final game of Round 1 saw the banker of a high scoring encounter between Old Albanian and Fylde. A thirteen try thriller with the home side getting 7 tries but still losing, just as well that the defence coaches were on a sabbatical. With Chris May taking over the mantle of James Shanahan and getting a hat-trick from the fly-half position. The home side’s late 3 tries were counteracted by a late Ollie Viney’s winning try as Fylde hung on for their win.

A full preview of the Week 2 fixtures including a detailed match preview of Coventry Rugby’s home debut against Cinderford next Saturday will appear later on this week.

Tom Little

Coventry Rugby press office

8^th September 2013.

National league 1 results round up week 1 - 7th September...

Discussion started by Unofficial Coventry Rugby (IP Logged), 08/09/2013 13:23

Unofficial Coventry Rugby
08/09/2013 13:23

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