Rugby / Statbunker News

Birmingham & Solihull v Cinderford

 

Second placed Birmingham Solihull are at home to sixth placed Cinderford and will be looking for the win to consolidate second place and keep on the tails of the leaders who they trail by eight points but have a tough match this week against an inform Tynedale side. 

 

Birmingham Solihull have won their last four as they seek a fifth straight win since a surprise hamming 41-12 at Wharfedale. 

They have taken seven try bonus points compared to just two collected by the visitors.

 

Cinderford have won three of their last four with the one defeat coming at league leaders Redruth. 

Although they have been outscored by the visitors there is not much to choose between them defensively with Cinderford conceding 28 tries just two more than the Bees have.

 

The Bees have the league’s second highest points scorer in Mark Woodrow with 129 seven behind Stourbridge’s Ali Bressington but he has scored 45 of his points form tries whilst Woodrow has only the one try and is the only man with over 100 points with the boot.

 

First ever league meeting between the two sides.

 

Match verdict: Home win for BS over Cinderford by 12 points.

 

Blaydon v Westcombe Park

 

Seventh placed Blaydon are at home to 11^th placed Westcombe Park hoping the Crow Trees home advantage will get them back to winning ways with 12 points separating the sides in the table.

 

Blaydon after a bright start to the season have lost three of their last four but they have all been on the road.

At home this season they have done really well and have a 100% record with four wins out of four and taken a try bonus point in there of those wins.

 

Combe have found it tough lately with four straight defeats and in three of them they have conceded over 40 points. Both their wins this season have come on the road as have both their try bonus points.

 

Wingers are leading try scorers for both sides with Andrew Fenby leading the way for the home side with eight and Lee Campion for the visitors with five.  

 

These two sides met for the first time in league rugby last season and Combe did the double over the North East side. At Crow Trees they were 27-10 winners having already won 39-28 at Goddington Dene earlier in the season.   

 

Match Verdict: Home win for Blaydon over Combe by 14 points.

 

Cambridge v Launceston 

 

Third placed Cambridge will be hoping they can return to winning ways against fourth placed Launceston and get last week’s loss at Tynedale out of their system immediately.

 

Cambridge need to get some consistency in their game after losing two of their last three, they were away from home but if they are to challenge they need to be winning on the road as well.

At home this season they have done well losing just the once to second placed Birmingham Solihull and winning their other four matches and are the top scorers at home this season in the division.

 

The Cornish All Blacks returned to winning ways last Saturday at home to Wharfedale to end a three match losing run and are two points behind the home side in the table. They have two wins already this season on the road in five matches and in all three defeats have picked up a losing bonus point.   

 

These two met two seasons ago for the first time in league rugby and Launceston did the double over Cambridge in their promotion season. In this match they were narrow 32-27 winners and later in the season at Polson Bridge were 38-6 winners.   

 

Match Verdict: Home win for Cambridge by seven points over the Cornish All Blacks 

 

Mounts Bay v Southend 

 

12^th placed Mounts Bay are at home to second bottom Southend looking to keep their winning run going.

 

Bay were away day winners at Westcombe Park last Saturday to make it three wins in a row and a fourth could well move them out of the bottom three. They have still only won once at home in four matches and have yet to collect a try bonus point home or away, the only side in the division without one.

They have conceded most of their tries in the last ten minutes of matches with nine leaked in that period whilst Southend have done poorly early in games with seven tries shipped in this period.

 

Southend have now lost four in a row since winning 64-26 at home to bottom of the table Waterloo. On the road they have picked up one win in four matches and once taken a try bonus point.

They have easily out scored Mounts Bay with 27 tries to 14 but the home side have a better defensive record, just, 44 tries conceded to 45.

 

First ever league meeting between the two sides.

 

Match Verdict: Mounts Bay to continue their excellent recent form with a 10 point home win over Southend

 

Redruth v Tynedale

 

The match of the day sees leaders Redruth looking to make it 11 in a row against 5^th placed Tynedale fresh from a convincing home win over Cambridge last Saturday.

 

Redruth have won five out of five at home and taken a try bonus point in four of those wins. They have outscored Tynedale 44 tries to 37 and have finished well with seven tries in the last 10 minutes compared to just one for the visitors. Full back Rob Thirlby is the joint leading try scorer in the division with 11 to date.

 

Tynedale are looking to make it three in a row after back to back home wins over Waterloo and Cambridge and have four wins and a draw in their last six matches. 

They will need to improve their away form which sees them languishing second bottom of the way league table with a draw and three defeats from their four away days, although in two of their three defeats they have taken a losing bonus point.

 

First ever league meeting between the two sides.

 

Match Verdict: Home win for Redruth over Tynedale by eight points.

 

Stourbridge v Waterloo

 

Ninth placed Stourbridge are at home to bottom of the table Waterloo looking to get some consistency into their season.

 

Stourbridge have yet to get going this season and after back to back wins were beaten at Cinderford last Saturday. At home this season they have won three out of four and picked up two try bonus points and in the one defeat claimed a losing bonus point.   

They have the league’s leading point’s scorer, Ali Bressington, with 138 points and he is also third in the try scorers list with nine.

 

Waterloo have just the one win all season and have lost all four matches on the road.

They have conceded 61 tries and 10 have come in the opening 10 minutes of matches and nine in the last 10 minutes of matches so they have been shipping tries at both ends of the match.

 

Last season Stourbridge did the double over Waterloo including a 38-19 win at Stourton Park and later in the season went to Blundellsands to complete the double with a narrow 18-15 victory. 

 

Match Verdict: Home win for Stourbridge at home to Waterloo by 12 points.

 

Wharfedale v Blackheath

 

10^th placed Wharfedale are at home to eighth placed Blackheath who they trail by six points in the table.

 

Wharfedale a three match winning run which included home wins over Blaydon and Birmingham Solihull have slipped to a couple of heavy defeats on the road away at Cambridge and Launceston.     

Overall at Threshfields this season they have three wins and just one defeat but only managed the one try bonus point but did pick up a losing bonus point in their only defeat.

 

Blackheath after a two match losing run returned to winning ways with a home win over Blaydon last Saturday. On the road this season they have done well and have the fourth best record in the division with three wins in five road trips and in both the defeats they left with a losing bonus point. 

The visitors have the edge in both tries scored and fewest tries conceded having scored seven tries more than the Dalesman and conceding nine tries fewer.

 

Last season home advantage counted in this fixture with Dale comfortable 39-7 winners at Threshfields, but the season before Blackheath did leave with a narrow one point win 15-14.

 

Match Verdict: Home win for Wharfedale over Blackheath at Threshfields by six points.