A club by club reviw of the National Two season 2004/05
Doncaster were Champions of National Two in just their third season of rugby at this level. They were seventh two seasons ago and improved to fourth spot last season before making it third time lucky finishing comfortable winners by 13 points.
They were the leading scorers and had the meanest defence.
They were defeated just twice all season in away matches at Moseley and Blackheath.
Rob Liley top scored with 321 points seven behind Ollie Thomas who topped the divisions scoring chart.
Liley finished leading scorer for the third successive season as he topped the 300 point mark for the first time ever in a season. He has now scored 885 points for Doncaster in the league, a figure only bettered by his older brother John who holds the record with 929. He did pass his brothers record for career penalties with 164 beating the previous record of 143.
In the try scoring stakes Donovan van Vuuren topped scored with an impressive 20 second in the division to Manchester’s Lucas Onyango in his first season at the club after joining form Cardiff.
Newbury finally make it out of National Two as runners up after an eight year stay since winning promotion from National Four South back in the 1996/97 season when they won 25 out of 25 matches.
They ended up 12 points clear of third placed Moseley and were helped with impressive home form which saw them win 12 out of 13 and only Champions Doncaster left with the win. A number of sides scored more points than them but they had a mean defence only just bettered by Champions Doncaster.
In the four previous seasons they had finished ninth on each occasion before showing a dramatic improvement this season.
Australian Dave Harvey had an impressive first season at the club scoring 285 points the second highest total in a season for the Berkshire side after Nick Grecian back in the 96/97 season.
Another new boy Martin Nutt ended the season as leading try scorer, the winger finished with 11 tries, the first Newbury player to get into double figures since Jeremy Griffiths back in 1999/00 who ended the season on 10.
Moseley picked up this season and finished in a highly respectful third place a seven place improvement on the previous season.
Although they were 12 points adrift of second placed Newbury they were nine points clear of fourth place.
Ollie Thomas led the way as he re wrote the Moseley scoring records as he finished top points scorer in the division with 328 which smashed the previous record of 181 set by Ben Harvey in 2000/01 and put him into fifth place on the all time record in the division. He was top points scorer last season at Moseley so has now scored 479 points which beats the club career record in the league which stood at 364 by Alistair Kerr between 1991-96. He also set new career record for conversions, penalties and drop goals with 63, 99, and 7
He set new records for conversions and penalties in a season with 48 and 64 beating Richard Le Bas record for conversion which stood at 27 and Simon Hodgkinson’s and Ben Harvey’s record for penalties at 41.
He also equalled Matt Jones’s record of five drop goals in a season.
Nathan Bressington was leading try scorer with 16 which was the third highest total in the division and puts him in third place on the clubs all time list for a season.
Fourth place went to Waterloo on their return to the division after a two season spell in National Three North.
They were beaten 11 times in the league but seven of these were by seven or less points. They picked up seven wins both at home and on the road.
Steven Nutt ended up as the leading points scorer with just 138 the lowest total to top the Waterloo scoring list since 1996-/97 when Lyndon Griffiths managed just 99.
Tony Handley kicked 69 points to take his career total at the club in the league to 897 and set a new record for career drop goals. His three took him to 10, one more than Ian Aitchison managed between 87-95.
Jay van Deventer ended the season as the leading try scorer for the first time after a couple of near misses and passes the 50 mark for the club. Freeman Payne though scored 10 tries last season, along with Neil Kerfoot, and extended his club record to 58.
Launceston on their return to National Two acquitted themselves well and finished in a highly creditable position of fifth after being relegated in their only other season in this division.
Scored 80 tries and nine times got the four try bonus point, a figure only bettered by Manchester and Doncaster. They did though concede 77 tries, only five sides had a worse record than that.
Steven Perry was their leading points scorer with 149 points
Winger Martin Lacey ended the season as the leading try scorer with 12, two clear of scrum half Marc Dibble.
Manchester finished in sixth position in their first season at this level since 1998/99 after getting relegated last season form National One. The only time they were in this division before they were promoted straight out of it.
They were the divisions leading try scorers with 101 and picked up 12 four try bonus points during the season which also led the division.
Winger Lucas Onyango topped the try scoring list in the division with 24 tries which was a club record in the league beating the 21 scored by Matt Hoskins when they won promotion from National Two North back in 1997/98. It was also the second best return ever in the division after the 29 scored by Nick Baxter for Worcester in 1997/98.
Onyango also finished top points scorer with his 120 seven clear of fly half Andre Wilson who was second in the clubs try scoring list with 12 and kicked 53 points as well.
Stourbridge ended up seventh in an up and down season which got off to a really good start but fell away. This is though their best ever finish in the division in their four year stay in it beating their eighth spot in 2002/03.
They ended the season with a better away record than home and picked up 13 points more on the road than at Stourton. They had the third best away record in the division with seven wins and a draw from their 13 matches. At home only bottom of the table Rosslyn Park had a worst record as they slipped to nine defeats.
Ben Harvey was the leading try scorer again for the club for a fourth successive season but failed to top the 200 point mark for the first time ending up on 164 in a disjointed season leaving him 13 points short of 1,000 in the league for the club.
Wharfedale dropped three places from last season as they finished in eight place in their eighth season in this division and have only twice finished lower than this in that time.
Only Rosslyn Park and Nuneaton scored fewer points and tries than the Yorkshire side who did though have one of the better defences in the division with only the top four conceding fewer points.
Full back Jonathan Davies regained the leading points scorer tag for a third season in four with his 214, second only to his 278 in 2001/02.
He also broke the club record for points in a league career with his 214 taking him to 987, 36 more than the previous record held by Adam Mounsey. He also broke Mounsey’s record of 123 conversions in a career with a new record of 147.
In the try scoring stakes centre Chris Malherbe finished top with 10 to add to his joint leading try scoring tag from the previous season.
Blackheath in their return to this division after four seasons down in National Three South finished in ninth place just five points clear of the relegation zone.
They were one of only two sides to beat Champions Doncaster with a late season 30-0 win and at Doncaster pushed the Yorkshire side all the way before going down narrowly 22-19.
They managed only four four try bonus points which was the lowest by any side in the division and were the only side not to reach the 50 try mark in the season. Although defensively they had the sixth best defensive record conceding 67 tries.
Stephen McCashin leads the way in the points scoring with 228 in his second season at the club but the first in which he responsibility for the kicking duties.
Chris Trace topped the try scoring list with just six tries the lowest total to top the try scoring list since Nick Daniel managed just five in the 1999/00 relegation season.
Harrogate finished strongly avoiding relegation from National Two after 11 years in the division ending up in 10th place a two place drop on the previous season. Needing five wins in their last six matches to avoid the drop by just two points, they managed only five wins in their first 20 games of the season.
They managed nine four try bonus points a figure only bettered by Manchester and Doncaster in the division.
Lee Cholewa finished leading points scorer for a fifth successive season with 196 and finished the season 20 short of Ralph Zoing’s club record of 1086 points set between 1987-99.
In the try scoring stakes winger James Tapster finished top with 13 and took his career total to 56 for the club. It is the second time he has finished top of the try scoring list as in 2002/03 he was joint leading try scorer with Ed Smithies.
In the home win over Bracknell they equalled their highest ever score of 79 which they set back in April 1997. This time they only conceded five points and so set a new record for biggest winning margin in a home match, 74.
Esher after four relatively successful seasons in this division Esher found themselves involved in a tough relegation struggle and were only safe on the penultimate weekend of the season when they thrashed Launceston at home to secure all five points, in the end they needed them as they finished just one point clear of the relegation zone.
Neil Hallett who joined early in the season topped the points scoring list with the highest total in the last three years for Esher, 223, taking over the mantle of leading points scorer form Jonathan Gregory who had occupied that position for five successive seasons.
Scrum half Jon O’Reilly in his second season at the club topped the try scoring list with 10 tries after failing to score in his 14 starts last season.
Suffered their biggest ever league defeat in terms of points against when on the final day of the season they were thrashed 65-15 by Manchester who also ran in 10 tries which is the most Esher have conceded in a league match.
Nuneaton finished 12th after looking dead and buried at one stage in the season as they staged a dramatic recovery and failed by just a point in the end to avoid the drop back into National Three North after a two season stay in National Two.
The damage was done in the first half of the season, they lost six and drew one of their first seven matches they then beat Waterloo but then suffered five more successive defeats to make it a win and a draw in their opening 13 matches.
What a difference a season makes, going into the closing stages of last season, they were still in with a chance of promotion into National One!
In the closing weeks of the season they won seven out of eight with only the Champions Doncaster beating them as they dragged themselves back into contention.
Gareth Cull, a mid season signing form Coventry, ended up as leading points scorer with 128
Utility back Jody Peacock finished top try scorer for the third successive season but with only seven tries this time compared to 17 and 21 in the two previous campaigns.
Bracknell finished 13th after falling into the relegation zone on the penultimate weekend of the season after seemingly overcome a dreadful start to the season to move up the table. In their final eight matches they suffered six defeats including four in a row before the final weekend of the season.
They now drop down to National Three South which they were last in back in 1998/99.
Andrew Frost topped scored for the club with 172 points after taking over the kicking duties in December after the departure of Neil Hallett to rivals Esher, and some would say that was the reason why Esher stayed up and Bracknell were relegated.
Stuart Roberts with eight tries was the leading try scorer in his first season at the club.
Rosslyn Park slip back into National Three South after a stay of execution last season, with the demise of Wakefield and the consequences, after finishing bottom of the table.
With the other bottom sides making a real fight of it they found themselves 16 points adrift at the bottom of the table.
They managed just six wins during the season, three at home and three away from home.
Leading try scorer was Sam Howard with just 61 points the third successive season he has topped the points scoring list but along way behind his efforts of the two previous seasons when he scored 359 and 267.
Three players topped the try scoring list with the disappointing total of just four tries, prop Richard Cable, scrum half Rhys Lapidus and winger James Justice.
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