A club by club review of the season for National Three North 2004/05.
Halifax after missing out last season on the Championship despite losing just the one game all season were convincing winners this season winning the title by 24 points.
They were beaten just the once going down to a home defeat late in the season with the title already wrapped up and they did not play their final match against Blaydon as nothing was at stake and the County Championship was under way.
They picked up 17 four try bonus points in their 25 matches
Samoan fly half Douglas Sanft led the way with 270 points to top the total he scored last season, 266. He topped 20 points in a match four times during the season.
The try scoring title went to the full back Anzac Luteru who finished the season strongly with 11 tries in his last six matches to pass Kendal’s John Ladell at the top of the divisions try scorers list.
Macclesfield took second place in their second ever season of National League rugby and dramatically improved on 9th place form last season.
They had the unenviable task of going to Redruth for the play off and were 33-14 losers so will have to try again next season.
They ended the season with the third best attacking record and the second best defensive record.
At home they had a great record with 11 wins form their 13 matches.
Leading the way was fly half Michael Newell in his first full season for the club after a handful of appearances the previous season with 219 points, third in the division.
Winger Mark Frost was leading try scorer with 12 tries out of the 75 they scored.
Bradford & Bingley on their return to the National Leagues finished third but were disappointed after coming up with big ambitions of at least making the play offs. They ended the season four points behind second placed Macclesfield and had some very disappointing results along the way.
Tom Rhodes led the way with 275 points which was the best return in the division and included seven drop goals.
They were the second highest try scorers in the division with 80 and three players finished joint top try scorers with 12 tries. They were forward Latu Makaafi and Renier Volschenk and back Richard Tafa.
Fylde end the season in fourth spot 19 points behind third place but it was a two place improvement on the previous season and a second successive season when they won more matches than they lost.
Leading points scorer was Paul Green who took over mid season after Mike Scott got injured after notching up 100 points. Green slowed clawed back his lead and finished the season strongly and ended up on 136 by the end of the season.
New Zealand flanker Quentin King topped the try scoring list with an impressive 14 which was the third best total in the division and the best by a Fylde player since Mark Preston scored 20 way back in 1996/97.
Tynedale equal their best finish in this division with fifth place which they also achieved in the 2001/02 season.
Full back Will Massey led the way in the scoring in his first senior of senior rugby with 187 points which included 11 tries which was the most by a Tynedale player during the season. He was also the clubs only ever present playing in all 26 matches and coming off just twice.
New Brighton have their worst finish in seven seasons of rugby at this level with sixth place, a drop of one on last season and a far cry form the play offs they reached the season before.
Anthony Birley in a season hit by injury topped scored for a second season but was some way off his 316 points from the previous season finishing on 141.
Newcomer No 8 Katilimoni Tuipulotu was the leading try scorer with nine tries, the same total that Birley finished on the season before to finish top try scorer.
They did not perform at home with just six wins, they drew three and lost four matches which was only the ninth best record in the division. Away form home though they had the fourth best record in the division.
Darlington Mowden Park finished the season strongly to finish in seventh place after looking like relegation candidates at one stage of the season.
They finished the season with five straight wins which included victory over Champions Halifax and second placed Macclesfield.
Centre Mark Bedworth ended the season as the clubs leading points scorer for the third consecutive season with 168 despite playing in just 13 matches out of a possible 26.
He also finished the season as the leading try scorer with eight tries someway short of the 17 he scored when DMP were North One Champions back in the 2000/01 season.
The other Darlington side came in eighth, six points adrift of their neighbours as they improved on 10th place last season and can look forward to a third season of National League rugby.
They relied on their excellent home record which saw them pick up eight wins and a draw in their 13 matches losing just four times at Blackwell Meadows.
David Kell ended the season as the clubs leading points scorer with a vital 198 points in his first season on senior rugby. Darlington with 49 kicked more penalty goals than any other side in the division.
In the try scoring department Craig Lee finished top with eight tries, one more than Frances Coulson and Michael Taylor. .
Kendal finished in ninth place a drop of one place on the previous season and their lowest league position since they also finished in this position back in the 1996/97 season.
They had a terrible away record and picked up just two wins and a draw in their 13 road trips
Dan Stephens was the top points scorer for Kendal last season for the first time with 154 points.
Winger John Ladell looked like finishing as the top try scorer in the division but a late run by Halifax full back Anzac Luteru saw him overhauled, Ladell finished the season with 19 tries and Luteru finished on 21. Last season it was his brother Luke who finished leading try scorer for Kendal with eight tries.
Blaydon finish in 10th place which is their worst finish since getting into the National Leagues four seasons ago and a big drop from fourth spot in the previous season.
They nearly did as well away from Cross Trees as they did there with six home wins and five away wins.
They could not score enough points and ended the season with the lowest points total, 439 and with 55 were the lowest try scorers in the division.
Dan Clappison was leading scorer for the club during the season with 148 points down on the 166 scored by David Dalrymple the season before.
Winger Simon Barber was the leading try scorer with nine and seven of these came away from home.
Cleckheaton survived their first season of National League rugby, just, with a comfortable final day at home to Tynedale and with Rugby winning at Bedford Athletic, anything less and they would have been relegated.
They started the season with two great wins away at Darlington Mowden Park and at home to Fylde but then lost nine out of ten as the rigours of National League rugby hit home. They did manage to recover and find their feet for a second wind and improved in the second half of the season and a four match winning run in January/February proved vital in their survival.
Glenn Boyd was their leading points scorer after joining in the summer form Hull Ionians whilst three players tied as leading try scorers with eight each. They were forward John Dudley and Craig Rika and scrum half Scott Benton.
Rugby Lions suffer a third successive relegation and find themselves out of the National Leagues for the first time ever in League rugby. They went down on the final day despite winning at Bedford Athletic they need results to go their way and they did not. They were not helped by having five points deducted for fielding too many overseas players in a fixture as in the end they were left two points from safety.
They were even the fifth highest scorers in the division with 532 points and actually went down with a positive points difference which must be a rare occurrence as they picked up the most bonus points for defeats by seven or less, eight.
Alan Mitchell ended the season as leading points scorer with 142, the highest total for five years at the club since Martyn Davies scored 179 in the 1999/00 season when they were in Premiership Two.
Winger Gareth Collins finished as leading try scorer with eight tries, the lowest total since 1999/00 when Oscar Wingham managed just six.
Dudley Kingswinford’s five season stay in the National Leagues comes to an end as they finish 13th and go back down into Midlands One. They have struggled for the last two seasons before this after making a great start to life in the National Leagues finishing sixth and then runners up in their first two years in this division.
They staged a late mini revival with three wins and a draw in their final four matches but they had left themselves too far adrift and still finished seven points form safety. Full back Andy McLellan top scored with 93 points and Ian Gowland was leading try scorer for a second successive season with 11 down on his 18 from the season before.
Bedford Athletic finish bottom and are relegated back into Midlands One after just a year as they try to keep National League rugby at the club. Before going down two seasons ago they enjoyed a four year stay in this division.
Their problem was on the road where they failed to register a single win losing all 13 matches picking up just two bonus points along the way. At home they managed six wins and taking 28 points.
Fly half Robert Dunne topped scored with 85 but missed a lot of the season through injury.
Two players topped the try scoring list with seven tries, centre Hagues Groshans and flanker Scott Grant
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