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In at the Corner - National Two Season Review

Moseley took the National Two Championship and returned to National One after three seasons away. In the end they took the title by two points but had secured it before the final day of the season when they suffered just their third defeat of the season away at Manchester.

They suffered just three defeats all season with them all coming away from home at Esher, Launceston and Manchester.  

Ollie Thomas again topped the points scorers list for a third consecutive season as he extended his club scoring record to 732 in three seasons.

Winger Nathan Bressington topped the try scoring list with 20 to break the club record for a season set by James Aston back in 0223-04, he also broke the all time record and has now scored 36 in tow season to pass the 32 scored by Darragh O’Mahoney between 1996 and 1998. 

 

Waterloo took runners up spot in National Two finishing 19 points clear of third placed Esher. They return to National One after their second promotion in three seasons after six seasons away. 

They finished the season strongly with ten straight wins to keep the pressure on Moseley. They actually lost fewest matches in the division but were held to two draws along the way away at Wharfedale and at home to Esher in consecutive matches.

Both defeats were at the hands of Moseley, both were by six points.

Neil Hunter topped the points scoring with 208 for the first time in his two seasons at the club.  Winger Neil Kerfoot topped the try scoring list for the second time in three season but five adrift of his club record of 23 set when they won the National Three North Championship.

Centre Freeman Payne extended his club record with another 16 tries to take his total to 74 in six seasons and 152 games. Payne was again an ever present for the fifth consecutive season and has now played 130 consecutive league matches.       

 

 

Esher ended up in third to equal their best ever finish in the division, three seasons ago, after falling away towards the end of the season and letting the top two pull clear. 

Neil Hallett became the second Esher player to score over 300 points in a season with his 302 which puts him third for points in a season behind Jonathan Gregory who twice topped the 300 point mark.

Winger Matt Moore broke the club record for tries in a season with 24 which was six more than the previous record set by Nyasha Shumba in the 2002-03 season.

That takes his career total at Esher to 32 which puts him second behind Jonathan Gregory on the all time list of league try scores.

 

Launceston finished a highly creditable fourth a one place improvement on the previous season to record their best ever finish in league rugby.

Fly half Stuart Alred top scored with 232 points joining the club on loan from Exeter Chiefs including a club record 48 penalties in a league campaign beating the previous record set by Danny Sloman by three.

Winger Nigel Simpson in his first season at the club was the leading try scorer with nine, the lowest total to top the try scoring list since they made it into National League rugby.  

 

Wharfedale finished in fifth place a three place improved on the previous season and managed to draw four of the 26 league matches along the way. This beat the three draws they had in the 1997-98 season in the same division although in those days it was Jewson National One.  

Centre Mark Bedworth in his first season at the club top scored with 241 points after joining from Darlington Mowden Park in the summer. Young wing Simon Horsfall was leading try scorer with 11 to take him to 20 in just over two seasons of league rugby. Another youngster full back Adam Whaites in his first season of senior rugby managed to bag eight tries. Andy Hodgson managed five tries during the season and extended his all time record to 90. 

 

Sixth placed Manchester finished in the same position as last season and although they won more matches they finished with five fewer points.   

Fly half Andre Wilson was leading scorer for the club for the first time with 146 points, the highest total for three seasons.

Full back Jonathan Lowden was the leading try scorer with ten two more than winger Dave Wood.

 

Barking in their first ever season of National Two rugby finished a highly creditable seventh after spending a lot of the time in fourth spot. 

Former Italian International Full back Corrado Pilat top the scoring charts with 197 in his debut season for the club. His 43 penalties was one short of the season record for the club held by Justin Azzopardi set back in 1998-99

Another newcomer, winger Felise Ah-Ling, was the leading try scorer for the club with an impressive 13 tries including a club equalling record of four in a match on the opening day of the season in the home win over Launceston. 

 

Stourbridge drop a place from last season with eighth place in the division as they maintain their National Two status for a sixth season. 

They picked up just two losing bonus points in their 14 defeats which was the lowest percentage of any side in the division.

Full back Alistair Bressington ended the season as top scorer with just 88 points, from just 10 starts, as the club struggled to find a front line goal kicker.  

Centre Cameron Mitchell ended the season as top try scorer with seven tries which was a good return from 12 starts.

They suffered their worst ever home league defeat losing by 40 points to Waterloo at Stourton 43-3 in October.

 

Blackheath finish in ninth place for the second season running to consolidate National Two rugby for a third consecutive season.

South African Frankie Neale top scored for the club with just 92 points the lowest total since Mitch Hoare managed just 48 back in the 1999-00 season when they were relegated from this division down into National Three South.

Paul Sampson, winger, and Ken Aseme, back row forward, were leading try scorers with seven tries apiece.

 

Redruth finished 10th in their first season back in National Two after an eight year absence in the lower leagues. 

They managed just two four try bonus points during their 26 match league season which along with Orrell was the lowest total in the division.

Fly half Gavin Donald was the leading points scorer with just 70 points the lowest total for many years.

Winger Lewis Vinnicombe with 13 tries was the leading try scorer for the second time in three seasons and became the clubs all time leading trey scorer in league rugby with 44, five more than Steve Larkins previous record.

 

Halifax in their first ever season of National Two rugby came 11th and recovered after a poor start to climb the table and ensure a second season in the division. 

Half back Tom Eaton, a summer signing from Rotherham, last the clubs leading points scorer with 88 points, you have to go back 10 years to find the last time someone topped the list with less than 100 points.

Samoan Robert Afoa Peterson topped the try scoring list for the first time in his three seasons at the club and in the process became the clubs all time leading try scorer in National League rugby taking his total to 31 surpassing the previous record held by Aaron Canning.  

 

Henley Hawks had another poor season and finished third bottom after getting relegated from National One the season before. The Hawks had a reasonable defensive record and five sides finishing above them in the table conceded more points than them.

Mitch Burton topped scored for the Hawks with 150 points in his first season for the club having previously played League rugby for Bedford Blues.

Winger Chris Simmons was the clubs leading try scorer with 10 in his first season for the club in just 13 starts, he has previously played League rugby for Newbury, Manchester and Nottingham. 

 

 

Harrogate finished second bottom but with National One expanding they were saved from relegation with only one side going down and this happened once before, 1997-98 they finished bottom but with the league above increasing in size there was no relegation.

They picked up eight bonus points for scoring four tries or more a figure only bettered by four sides in the division. They picked up nine losing bonus points which was the best record in the division along with Henley Hawks. If they had had a front line goal kicker they could well have won a few more matches and climbed the table.

Scrum half Michael Aspinall was the clubs leading points scorer with 80, the lowest total since Ralph Zoing top scored with 61 back in 1998-99.

Winger Stephen Parsons was the leading try scorer with 15 and in his two seasons for the club has an excellent strike record with 22 tries in 33 matches.

 

Orrell suffered successive relegations as they drop down to National Three North for the first time and just three seasons ago they were on the brink of the Premiership finishing second in National One, how times can change.  They ended the season with the least points scored and most points conceded and managed just two four try bonus points all season.

Simon Mason top scored for the club for the third time and the second successive season since his return to the club after an eight year absence back in 1995-96.

He has now scored 433 points for the club. His 170 points beat his previous best for Orrell in a season which was 166 back in 1995-96. He also became the first Orrell player to reach 100 career penalty goals finishing the season with 102 and surpassing Phil Jones’s record of 95. 

Winger Warren Spragg was leading try scorer with 12 tries twice as many as any else and 30% of his sides tries during the season.
 
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