Cacth up with our weekly preview and predictions of National Three North rugby.
Blaydon v Dudley Kingswinford
After back-to-back defeats, albeit against the top two sides in the division, Blaydon will be looking to get back to winning ways in this home fixture against the inconsistent Dudley Kingswinford.
DK are lying in 12th place and picked up just two wins so far this season. They have no problem scoring tries and with 23 only the free running Waterloo have managed more with 36. But the problem comes at the other end of the field where they have leaked 32 tries which is the worst in the division by four from Macclesfield.
So DK have score five more tries than Blaydon this season but the home side have conceded just 15 tries, 17 fewer than DK.
Team news:
Prediction: Home win by 25 points.
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Darlington Mowden Park v Waterloo
Despite sitting comfortably in sixth place DMP have had a low key start to the season and with the visit of Championship favourites they have the chance to make a name for themselves in National Three North.
They have yet to put together more than one win at a time but at Mowden Park they have got their points at home with three wins from four matches.
Waterloo are the hot favourites for the title and are five out of five at present and are averaging seven tries a match and the 36 tries are split evenly between the first half and the second half.
Waterloo were given a good run for their money by Blaydon last week and for the first time this season were forced to slot over as couple of late penalties to keep Blaydon at bay.
Team news:
Prediction: Away win by 15 points.
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Fylde v Halifax
Halifax travel to Woodlands looking for an eighth straight league win against an out of sorts Fylde side with the sides meeting for the first time in a league match.
Despite the fact that Halifax have 10 more points and are 10 places ahead of Fylde in the league table they have actually conceded more points than the Lancashire side.
Fylde have the fourth best defensive record in the division but the problem is they cannot score enough points. They have scored just 95 so far this season and are the lowest try scorers in the division with just eight in six matches. Halifax on the other hand have run in 23 tries in their seven league games.
Team news: Halifax team: 15 D McGee; 14 N Cooper, 13 C Emmerson, 12 J Marsden, 11 A Canning; 10 D Sanft, 9 J Bartlett, 1 A Blades, 2 C Mortimer, 3 R Szabo, 4 R. Hill, 5 M Smith, 6 D Jessiman, 7 G Lewis, 8 R Afoa-Petersen. Replacements: M
Faulkner, J Bloem, S Dykes, A Ledger.
Fylde make three changes from their starting lineup last weekend. In the
pack, Matt Filipo replaces Steve Ellis at loosehead prop and Emmett
Wallace makes his first start for the Club, at openside flanker in place
of Paul Bamber. Bamber and Ellis are named amongst the replacements.
"Our forwards have to be able to manufacture quicker and cleaner ball
than against Longton if we are to be able to use our three quarters most
effectively" said coach Stuart Connell.
In the backs, Mark Evans is available once more and replaces Stuart
Connell at inside centre. This leaves Paul Reeves playing on the left
wing where he made some useful runs against Longton.
Fylde's team is:
15 Richard Kenyon; 14 David Wiseman, 13 Karl Long, 12 Mark Evans, 11
Paul Reeves; 10 Mike Scott, 9 Lawrence Condon; 1 Matt Filipo, 2 Craig
McIntyre, 3 Jon Webster, 4 Jon Taylor, 5 Greg Johnson, 6 Roger Banks, 7
Emmett Wallace, 8 Jon Kay. Replacements: 16 Steve Ellis, 17 Martin Scott, 18 Martin Wallwork, 19 Paul Bamber
Prediction: Tight match with away win by less than seven.
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Kendal v Preston
Both these two sides have lost three of their last four games and are looking to turn that inconsistency round, starting this weekend.
7th placed Kendal.
There is not to much to chose between these two sides Preston have out scored them in the try stakes with 20 scored to 16 and again have the edge in least number of tries conceded with 14 compared to 17 for the Mint Bridge outfit.
Kendal will have to try and stop the prolific Oliver Viney from again getting on the scoresheet but with him averaging more than a try a game that might be easier said than done.
Interestingly Hoppers have scored 12 of their 20 tries away from home and are a second half side with 12 of them coming after the break. Kendal are one of the few sides to have scored more tries in the opening 40 minutes compared to the second 40 minutes with nine against 7.
Team news:
Prediction: Tough call this one but will go home win by seven.
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Liverpool St Helens v Longton
Longton will be boosted with that all important win last week at home to Fylde but will find the trip to Liverpool St Helens a lot more difficult.
LSH are still smarting at not getting a result at New Brighton last weekend going down to a narrow two point lead after out scoring the home side two tries to one.
LSH need to win here to kick start their season with just one win in the last six matches and should have enough fire power to see off the Midlands side.
Where Longton have come unstuck so far is the number of penalties they have conceded and 25 of those have been kicked by the opposition which is eight more than the next side on the list Preston. Liverpool though have the third worst record with 17 against, so it could be a match settled by the boot.
Team news: LSH
15 Danny Collins, 14 Nick Royle, 13 Sean Casey, 12 Alan Cross, 11Dave Cunliffe, 10 Simon Worsley, 9 Steve Cook, 1 Lee Nevitt, 2 Rhys Brock, 3 Jan Lourens, 4 Mark Handley, 5 Alan Marsh, 6 Martin Gaskell, 7 Jim Keulemans, 8 Tim Hewlett
REPS: 16 Phil Hewitt, 17 Jon Hitchen, 18 Mike Nugent, 19 Peter Evans
This week Lee Nevitt starts and Phil Hewitt is on the bench in the front row, which is the only change from last week.
Longton's team for Saturday shows few changes. The pack remains the same
with Paul Sheldon undergoing a late fitness test. Andy Whalley comes in on
the wing and Simon Price shuffles out to the other wing with Paul Green
moving to centre.
Longton will be looking to pick up where they left off last week. Regards
richard
Team for the LSH game on Saturday is:
1. Tim Wareham, 2. Craig Wilson, 3. Rianes De Klerk, 4. Gary Turner, 5. Gareth Rawlings, 6. Neil Smith, 7. Paul Sheldon, 8. Tim Wood, 9. James Gabriel, 10. Tony Wheat, 11. Andy Whalley, 12. Scott Rawlings, 13. Paul Green, 14. Simon Price, 15. Rob Wheat. Subs 16. Marshall Gadd 17. Jez Moss 18. Rob Scragg 19. Carl Howson
Prediction: Despite Longton getting of the mark last week, home win by 10 points.
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New Brighton v Darlington
New Brighton moved up to third place last week after their home win over local rival Liverpool St Helens whilst Darlington were also winners last week and needed to be otherwise they would have gone bottom of the table.
NB are looking for a fourth consecutive league win and need to put a good run together and up their performances if they are to challenge like they did last season. Darlington have won two of their last three and have done well scoring 19 tries so far this season, five more than New Brighton. What they have not go is a front line goal kicker with just three penalties kicked so far this season and only Waterloo have kicked fewer but that is because they are to busy running in the tries. Not having a front line kicker could count against them in the long run and it is something they need to do something about sooner rather than later.
Team news:
The Blues have been able to pick from a full squad with no injury problems. Richard Bradshaw has recovered from his hamstring problem and partners Adam Kettle at lock. Jay Stirrett who played well against LSH after a long lay off for injury moves back on the bench. Jon Sewell is also fit and starts at No 7 with Wayne Clayton making way by moving to the bench. In the backs a worrying lack of the ability to find holes in defences and create real scoring opportunities has been occupying the minds of the coaches. Ian Wynn has elected to start this week in the centre with Tom Mapp, allowing Dan Naylor to move to fullback from where he can use his speed to strike from deep. Loa Tupou is retained on the wing as part of an ongoing trial to see how effective the big man can be given a bit more space.
Team Sheet. 1. Damian Penisini, 2. Phil Buckley, 3. Ian Davies, 4. Adam Kettle, 5. Richard Bradshaw, 6. Chris Naylor, 7. Jon Sewell, 8. Steve Bellis, 9. Dave Wood,10. Antony Birley, 11. Ian Murray,12. Tom Mapp, 13. Ian Wynn,14. Loa Tupou, 15. Dan Naylor.
Substitutes. 16. Steve Kelly, 17. Jay Stirrett, 18. Wayne Clayton, 19. Stephen Dean
Prediction: Home win by 15 points.
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Tynedale v Macclesfield
Tynedale have had a solid start to the new season and are lying fifth but have a game in hand on the two sides immediately above them and a win could move them up the table.
Three wins in their opening seven league matches see Macclesfield sitting mid table thanks to their home form picking up two wins in three matches.
Tynedale have managed 21 tries in their six matches so far this season and just eight of those have come at home. Macclesfield have scored 11 tries from a game more and just four have come away from home.
Macclesfield are though the leading side when it comes to kicking penalty goals with 23 and 14 of those have come on their travel so Tynedale will need to keep their discipline.
Team news: Tynedale have named a squad ahead of the match this weekend and hope to have Phil Belgian return after missing the last four weeks. They also are likely to welcome back Barry Hills and Jake White after injury and illness respectively.
Prediction: Home win by 15 points.
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