Bedford v Coventry

Fifth placed Bedford Blues take on 10^th placed Coventry at Goldington Road looking to return to winning ways.

Bedford will be looking to get last Sundays defeat down in Cornwall out of their system with a home win. At home this season they have won three in a row since drawing their opener against the Pertemps Bees 29 all.   

Coventry were home winners last Saturday against Otley just their third win of the season. One of these has come on their travel when they beat bottom of the table Sedgley Park 32-17. In the other three road trips they have lost at Doncaster and Plymouth Albion but came away from Sandy park with a very creditable draw against the Chiefs.

The Blues were 40-27 winners in this fixture last season and did the double over Coventry with a 31-24 win at the Butts Arena. 

Prediction: Blues to win at home against Coventry by 10 points.      

Doncaster v Otley

Sixth placed Doncaster take on ninth placed Otley in this Yorkshire derby.

Doncaster will be looking to return to winning ways after losing at Headingley against Leeds Tykes last Saturday.

At home this season Doncaster have done well winning three out of four with only the Cornish Pirates leaving with a win.

In both their defeats they have picked up the losing bonus point.

Otley have played four times on the road this season winning once at Sedgley Park whilst two of their three defeats have come against the top two Earth Titans and Cornish Pirates.

They are not the heaviest scorers in the division with only the bottom three scoring few than the Cross Green outfit.

Doncaster were winners in this fixture last season with a 24-12 win over Otley. In the match at Cross Green Otley ran out winners 24-16.

Prediction: Home win for Doncaster as they return to winning ways with nine point win.     

London Welsh v Nottingham

13^th placed London Welsh entertain Nottingham who are just a place below them in the table one the same points but having won a match more. 

London Welsh have three wins this season and they have all come on the road. At Old Deer Park they have played just three times and come unstuck on each occasion. They have lost to Doncaster, Newbury and Exeter managing just the one bonus point when losing by six to Exeter Chiefs.

Nottingham are level on points with the Welsh despite having won a match fewer but they have managed to pick up five bonus points, two for scoring four tries or more and three from losing by seven or less.

On the road this season they have lost all three of their matches but did give Newbury a run for their money before going down to a 19-18 defeat. 

At Old Deer Park last season the Welsh were 30-21 winners but at Nottingham home advantage counted again as they won 22-16. 

Prediction: Nottingham to take the points at Old Deer Park with six point win.      

Newbury v Plymouth Albion

11 placed Newbury entertain third placed Plymouth Albion looking to maintain their improved form.

Last week they picked up an excellent away win at the Pertemps Bees to pick up their third away win of the season.

At home they have managed just the one win when narrowly overcoming Nottingham 19-18. 

Newbury remain the only side in the division not to have picked up any kind of bonus point.

Plymouth Albion will be looking to get last weeks away loss at Nottingham out of their system when they went down 14-13 with all the points coming in the first half.

On the road this season they won two and lost two with the other defeat coming at Exeter Chiefs.

Last season at Monks Lane Newbury triumphed 27-18 whilst at Brickfields Newbury pulled of a shock 52-41 away win early in the season. 

Prediction: Newbury to pick up four point win at home to Plymouth Albion.     

Sedgley Park v Earth Titans

Top against bottom at Park Lane as Sedgley Park take on the Earth Titans.

Sedgley Park are still looking for their first win of the season with eight defeats in a row.

At home they have already lost five times picking up just two bonus points and they both came in the 34-33 defeat against the Pertemps Bees. 

The Titans have won seven out of eight and are four points clear at the top of the table. They have won three out of four on the road coming unstuck at Sandy Park when going down to a 27-22 defeat against Exeter Chiefs.

They have picked up six four try bonus points the most in the division.

What Park would do for a repeat on last seasons result when this match ended 31 all at Park Lane. At Clifton Lane the Titans ran out 32-11 winners.

Prediction: Titans to win by 12 points.     

Waterloo v Pertemps Bees

Second bottom Waterloo take on seventh placed Pertemps Bees looking for a win to close the gap on the teams above them who are four points clear of them. 

Waterloo have managed just the two wins this season but they have come against two of the better sides the Cornish Pirates and Exeter Chiefs. They became the first side to win at Exeter this season with their 22-13 success.

At Blundellsands this season apart from the win over the Pirates they have lost their other three matches. They have managed just one bonus point so far this season when losing by five at home to London Welsh. 

The Bees have three wins and a draw in their opening eight matches and are just in the top half of the table.

On the road they have a good record this season so far with wins at Moseley and Sedgley Park and they split the points with Bedford Blues on the opening day of the season. They have lost just the once going down 38-29 at Plymouth Albion.

Prediction: Waterloo to win by five and build on last weeks win at Exeter Chiefs.

Leeds Tykes v Moseley

Fourth placed Leeds Tykes take on 12^th placed Moseley looking to make it seven wins in nine matches. 

Leeds Tykes after losing at home on the opening weekend of the season have won three in a row now as they look to make it four this Sunday.

They are the lowest scorers in the top half of the table with 201 points picking up just three four try bonus points. .

Moseley have won just twice this season and in their six defeats have picked up losing bonus points in four of them the most by any side in the division.

On the road they have lost all three matches although they were narrowly beaten at both Coventry and Otley by one and three points respectively. 

Prediction:  Home win for the Tykes by nine points.      

Cornish Pirates v Exeter Chiefs

Second placed Cornish Pirates take on eighth placed Exeter Chiefs on Sunday looking for the win to keep pace with the leaders. 

The Pirates have won six out of their eight matches this season including all four at home. They were impressive home winners over Bedford Blues last Sunday taking all five points on offer. In all four of their home fixtures this season they have passed the 30 point mark.

The Chiefs will be looking to bounce back from a surprise home defeat at the hands of Waterloo last Saturday.

On the road this season they have picked up wins in two of their four matches at London Welsh and Nottingham whilst losing at Bedford Blues and the Pertemps Bees.

Exeter Chiefs were winners down in Cornwall last season coming through 23-16. But earlier in the season the Pirates inflicted the Chiefs biggest ever home defeat when beating them 43-16.

Prediction:  Pirates to win at home by eight points over the Chiefs.