NATIONAL ONE
Saturday 22nd January
Bedford Blues v Exeter Chiefs
Due to the enforced postponement of the Plymouth-Bristol clash, the match of the day in National One is now the meeting of fourth placed Bedford and third placed Exeter at Goldington Road.
Bedford are having their best spell of the season and have put together a run of five wins on the trot. They beat fifth placed rivals Otley 26-13 on Saturday after going in level at half time. They have won six and drawn one of their seven home matches this season and along with Plymouth Albion are the only sides unbeaten at home.
Exeter continue to put pressure on the top two and crushed Henley 37-5 at the County Ground on Saturday. They also maintained their incredible record, with a 13th bonus point in as many matches. Exeter have played six matches away from home this season and won four, their two defeats coming against local rivals Plymouth and Penzance.
This is a tough call. Exeter beat Bedford 42-21 in September and have won five of the last six times they have met. In a close game, Bedford are tipped to continue their recent good run.
Prediction: Bedford to win by 3 points
Henley Hawks v Coventry
Struggling Henley, deep in the relegation fight, welcome a Coventry side to Dry Leas who are very difficult to beat at home, but have a poor away record.
Henley were well beaten at Exeter on Saturday and have won only one of their last eleven matches. They remain next to bottom, four points clear of Orrell. They have played seven games at home this season and won two, against London Welsh and Sedgley Park.
Coventry have improved recently and recorded their best win of the season on Saturday with a resounding 30-3 home win against Penzance & Newlyn. They remain in ninth position in the league. Away from home they have only won two from seven matches. Their defeats came at five of the top six clubs and they have beaten Nottingham and Orrell.
Coventry beat Henley 31-24 at the Butts Arena in September and have won six and drawn one of their nine league meetings. They should add another victory to their collection on Saturday.
Prediction: Coventry to win by 10 points
Otley v Sedgley Park
A Yorkshire/Lancashire clash at Cross Green as fifth from top Otley host fifth from bottom Sedgley Park.
Otley were beaten for the first time in four outings at Bedford on Saturday but remain in fifth place in the league. They are very difficult to beat on home soil and have won six of their seven matches this season, losing only to Bedford.
Sedgley Park have been showing improved form recently but were brought back down to earth with a 62-9 defeat at the hands of leaders Bristol on Sunday. They were in touch at 17-9 at the interval, but conceded six tries in the last half hour. All the sides below Sedgley Park were also beaten so they remain in 10th place. They have played eight games away from home to date and been successful twice, at London Welsh and surprisingly, at Coventry.
These two sides met for the first time at Park Lane in September and Otley ran out 28-8 winners. They should complete the league double on Saturday.
Prediction: Otley to win by 8 points.
Pertemps Bees v Orrell
On paper, another easy home game for Pertemps Bees as bottom club Orrell visit Sharmans Cross Road, but their last two home matches have been against the other two relegation candidates, Henley and London Welsh and they struggled to beat them both.
They can consider themselves fortuitous to have beaten London Welsh on Saturday by one point. In the 86th minute, Dylan Pugh had a penalty 40 yards out in front of the posts to win the game for Welsh, but it dropped below the bar. They do have a good home record though and have won five from seven matches, beaten by Exeter and Nottingham.
Orrell lost for the seventh successive match on Saturday going down 29-9 at home to Rotherham. They have still only won the one game this season, at home to Henley, but fortunately for them, London Welsh and Henley are not picking up points so they still only trail them by six and four points respectively.
Orrell’s history in previous fixtures does not seem to bear any relevance this season. Although they hold the upper hand against Pertemps Bees over the years, Bees beat them 34-30 at Edge Hall Road in September and although they are not playing well at the moment, they should still be too strong for Orrell.
Pertemps Bees to win by 10 points.
Rotherham v London Welsh
After four successive defeats that sadly saw player-coach Mike Schmid leave Clifton Lane, Rotherham go looking for back-to-back wins after facing two of the bottom sides in consecutive weeks.
Rotherham beat Orrell 29-9 on Saturday and remain in seventh place with the Coventry result still pending. This was only their second win in the last eight matches. At home this season they have played eight and won six, defeats coming at the hands of Bedford and Bristol.
London Welsh almost pulled off a surprise victory at Pertemps Bees on Saturday but were beaten 14-13. They remain 12th in the table and still have a lot of work to do if they are to survive in National One. They have played seven games away from home this season and have only a solitary win, at Orrell, to their credit.
Rotherham beat London Welsh 29-12 at Old Deer Park in September. This was their eighth win against them in the last nine league matches. They should add another on Saturday.
Prediction: Rotherham to win by 14 points.
Sunday 23rd January 3:00pm
Penzance & Newlyn v Nottingham
Penzance will be pleased to get back to fortress Mennaye on Sunday to welcome a Nottingham side still looking for their first win in 2005.
The Pirates again put in a poor performance away from home on Saturday and were heavily beaten 30-3 at Coventry. They stay sixth in the league, mainly as a result of their performances at home that has seen them win six of their eight fixtures.
Nottingham have had a dip in performance recently and although they were not expected to have beaten Plymouth Albion on Saturday, the 31-3 scoreline was their biggest defeat since Bristol visited Ireland Avenue in October. They stay in 11th position on 24 points and still have a nine point buffer between themselves and third bottom London Welsh. They have still only won one game away from home, at Pertemps Bees, from seven starts.
Penzance won at Nottingham 42-21 in September, only the third time the teams have met and Penzance have won them all. They should win by a similar margin on Sunday.
Prediction: Penzance & Newlyn to win by 16 points |
