Blaydon v New Brighton
Second placed Blaydon entertain second bottom New Brighton looking to maintain their winning streak.
Blaydon top the Form Guide with six wins out of six and have won seven on the bounce since losing at home in the first week of January to Bradford & Bingley.
At Crow Trees this season they have an excellent record with eight wins out of nine.
They have the best defensive record and have more four try bonus points than the other two top three sides.
New Brighton have lost their last eight since beating Kendal at home in December.
On the road they have yet to win losing all ten matches picking up just the one bonus point along the way at Darlington.
When the sides met back in November Blaydon were comfortable 41-9 winners.
PREDICTION: Blaydon by 20 points.
Bradford & Bingley v Hull Ionians
Leaders Bradford & Bingley entertain seven placed Hull Ionians looking to maintain top spot and their six point advantage over Blaydon.
Bradford & Bingley are looking for a sixth consecutive league win this Saturday since losing 29-10 at Fylde last in January.
At Wagon Lane this season the Bees are unbeaten with eight straight wins and they have passed the 30 point mark in six of those wins.
After a two match losing run Ionians returned to winning ways last time out with an excellent 10-8 home win over Tynedale. They will do well to finish higher than their current seventh spot unless they can pick something up on the road as they have three difficult away matches left.
When the sides met at Hull Ionians earlier in the season Hull gave them a run for their money before going down to a 24-17 defeat.
PREDICTION: The Bees to win by 12 points at Wagon Lane.
Kendal v Darlington Mowden Park
11th placed Darlington Mowden Park travel to Mint Bridge knowing this is a must win game against bottom of the table Kendal.
Kendal remain bottom and still looking at that first elusive win or bonus point after 20 successive defeats.
At Mint Bridge they have lost all 10 matches this season and in five of those defeats failed to get into double figures on the scoreboard.
Darlington Mowden Park moved out of the relegation zone last Saturday after their in over Kendal but are just a point ahead of Leicester Lions who have a difficult away fixture at Preston this Saturday so DMP could find themselves six points clear of the Midlands side.
On the road they do not have the best of records with seven defeats in nine matches and both the wins coming in the North East against Darlington and Tynedale.
These two only met last weekend with Darlington Mowden Park winning 37-7 and picking up the four try bonus point.
PREDICTION: Darlington Mowden Park to win by nine points.
Macclesfield v Fylde
10th placed Macclesfield entertain eighth placed Fylde just a week after winning at Woodland 32-10.
Macclesfield made it back to back wins last Saturday with the win at Fylde and will be confident of making it three in a row with home advantage.
At home this season they have won five and drawn one of their nine matches.
Fylde have slipped a little of late with three defeats in their last four matches just as they were looking t break into the top half of the table for the first time this season.
On the road they have picked up three wins in nine matches winning at Cleckheaton, Leicester Lions and Nuneaton.
After a tight first half Macclesfield ran out comfortable winners at Fylde last Saturday and picked up a four try bonus point as well.
PREDICTION: Got to Macclesfield to do the double over Fylde with six point win.
Preston Grasshoppers v Leicester Lions
Fourth placed Preston Grasshoppers are at home this Saturday to 12th placed Leicester Lions who are in desperate need of a win.
Hoppers are realistically playing for fourth spot now as they are now eight points behind third place and have played more games than the leading sides.
At Lightfoot Green they have an impressive record with seven wins and a draw in their nine matches with only Bradford & Bingley leaving with a win and Nuneaton shared the spoils in a 13 all draw.
The Lions found themselves in the relegation zone last Saturday night as both Macclesfield and Darlington Mowden Park won and they lost at home to Fylde 32-10 as they slipped to a seventh defeat in their last eight matches.
On the road they have won three of their nine matches but lost the last three since winning at Kendal back in early December.
.
When the sides met at Westleigh earlier in the season the Hoppers left with a narrow win in a high scoring match 35-34.
PREDICTION: Hoppers to win by 11 points.
Tynedale v Cleckheaton
Sixth placed Tynedale entertain ninth placed Cleckheaton looking to return to winning ways.
Tynedale were beaten last time out at Hull Ionians two weeks ago after a five match winning run. At home this season they have a good record with seven wins in their eight matches and only North East rivals Darlington MP leaving with a win and they still have to play the top two yet. .
Cleckheaton are at the right end of the Form Guide with three successive wins and four wins in their last five which has helped them move up the table but they are still only four points from the relegation zone.
On the road this season they have done reasonable well with four wins in eight matches.
These two sides have yet to meet this season.
PREDICTION: Tynedale to win by nine points. |
