Blaydon v New Brighton
Second placed Blaydon entertain second bottom New Brighton looking to maintain top spot at the top of the Form Guide.
Blaydon top the Form Guide with six wins in their last six matches and overtook Nuneaton last Saturday to claim second place in the table.
At Crow Trees they have an impressive record with eight wins out of nine, Bradford & Bingley are the only side to win their this season narrowly 21-20.
New Brighton are bottom of the Form Guide with six defeats in their last six matches and a minus points difference of 221.
On the road they have yet to win a match suffering 10 successive defeats.
Blaydon were comfortable winners when the sides met at Reeds Lane earlier in the season 41-9.
PREDICTION: Comfortable home win for Blaydon by over 15 points.
Bradford & Bingley v Hull Ionians
Leaders Bradford & Bingley are at home this Saturday to seventh placed Hull Ionians in this Yorkshire derby.
Bradford & Bingley will be keen to maintain their six point lead at the top of the table by taking all five points on offer at Wagon Lane this Saturday.
They are unbeaten at home with eight successive wins and have passed the 30 point mark in six of those wins.
Hull Ionians had an excellent home win over Tynedale last Saturday at home but their away form is not as good. On the road this season they have played ten times with just three wins to their credit against Cleckheaton, Darlington Mowden Park and Kendal.
When the sides met at Hull earlier in the season Ionians gave the Bees a run for their money but the visitors came through 24-17.
PREDICTION: Got to go with Bees by 12 as they seem now to be on a roll.
Cleckheaton v Nuneaton
Third Nuneaton travel to ninth placed Cleckheaton looking to halt their recent dip in form.
Cleckheaton are up in ninth place in the table now and eight points clear of the relegation zone after three successive wins and have won four of their last five.
At home they have managed to pick up four wins in 10 matches which is not as good as their away form.
Nuneaton have lost two on the row after going the first 16 matches of the season unbeaten. They were beaten at Tynedale two weeks ago and then last Saturday at home by Bradford & Bingley. They are now seven points of the leaders with a game in hand and a point adrift of second placed Blaydon again with a game in hand.
When these two sides met at Liberty Way earlier in the season Nuneaton were winners but only just 6-0, in a tight low scoring affair which could have gone either way.
PREDICTION: Nuneaton to bounce back from Successive defeats with eight point win at Moorend. .
Darlington Mowden Park v Kendal
12 placed Darlington Mowden Park entertain bottom of the table Kendal knowing a win is the least they want out of the match they really need all five points.
Darlington Mowden Park were beaten at Macclesfield last weekend and are now in a relegation spot two points behind the Cheshire side in the table. They are at the wrong end of the Form Guide with just one win in their last six matches.
At home they have a poor record with four wins and a draw in their 10 matches to date this season. After this match they have tough games at home against Darlington and Nuneaton.
Kendal are still looking or that elusive first point after going down to a record 19th successive defeat in the division last Saturday at home to Blaydon.
They have lost all nine matches on the road and five times have failed to get into double figures.
These two have not yet met this season.
PREDICTION: Must win game for DMP and they will by 10 points.
Fylde v Macclesfield
Eighth placed Fylde entertain 11th placed Macclesfield knowing a five point win could see them move into the top half of the table for the first time this season with Hull Ionians having a tough match at leaders Bradford & Bingley.
Fylde were back to winning ways last Saturday with an away win at Leicester Lions with Mike Scott kicking 22 of the 32 points in an exceptional kicking display.
At Woodlands this season they have an excellent home record winning seven out of 10.
Macclesfield picked up a win against one of the rivals looking to get clear of the relegation zone last Saturday with a home success over Darlington MP.
On the road this season they have a poor record with just one win in nine and that was against bottom of the table Kendal.
These two sides have yet to meet this season. .
PREDICTION: Fylde to come through win nine point victory at Woodlands over Macclesfield. .
Preston Grasshoppers v Leicester Lions
Fourth placed Preston Grasshoppers entertain 10th placed Leicester Lions at Lightfoot Green with the visitors looking to try and find some form in the closing weeks of the season.
Hoppers were beaten last Saturday at Darlington and have lost two of their last three matches and are now eight points of third spot in the table.
They have an excellent home record this season with seven wins and a draw in their eight matches and only leaders Bradford & Bingley have left with a win.
Leicester Lions have managed just one win in their last six matches and are 12th in the Form Guide and need to find another two or three wins if they are to stay out of the relegation zone. On the road they did do well early in the season but recently they have struggled.
When these two met earlier in the season it was a thriller with the visitors just coming out on top in a high scoring game 35-34.
PREDICTION: Hoppers to win by 14 points at Lightfoot Green over Leicester Lions.
Tynedale v Darlington
An interesting North East derby with fifth placed Darlington travelling to sixth placed Tynedale after the two swapped places last week in the league table.
Tynedale were beaten last Saturday at Hull Ionians the week after becoming the first side to defeat Nuneaton this season and were disappointed with the defeat which cost them a place in the league table.
They have only played eight games at home this season and have won seven of them losing just the once to the other Darlington side, Mowden Park.
Darlington were home winners over Preston Grasshoppers last Saturday as they picked up their third successive league win to sit third in the Form Guide with five wins in their last six matches. On the road they have not done anywhere near as well as they have done at Blackwell Meadows. They have managed just three wins and a draw in 10 matches.
When the sides met at Blackwell Meadows earlier in the season Darlington ran out winners 30-16.
PREDICTION: With home advantage will go with Tynedale by seven as long as they improve on last week. |
