National One Stats Review - places 9 - 16
Published: 31/05/2009
Coventry
· Coventry finished in ninth place for the second season running but with nine more points than last season
· They collected five losing bonus points which was the four highest number in the division
· Fly half Myles Dorrian topped the scoring list for the first time with 132 which is the lowest total to top the scoring for the club in four seasons
· No 8 Laurie McGlone topped the try scoring list with 11 which is the highest total for seven years, since Kurt Johnson scored 14 back in the 2002/03 season
· Hooker Chris Whitehead and No 8 Laurie McGlone led the way with 28 starts and Whitehead came on in the other two league matches and McGlone one
· Prop Rob Dugard started 25 matches and came on in the other five of Coventry’s league games
· Winger Kurt Johnson passed the 100 try mark for Coventry with his two during the season and is now on 101 for the club
· Johnson started six matches to take his record for appearances by a back to 197 starts and 13 as a replacement
· Veteran hooker Dave Addleton made an appearances form the bench during the season to add to his all time appearance record, 216 starts and 36 appearances from the bench
· Hooker Stuart Pearl sat on the bench 27 times coming on in 23 of those matches
· In matches against the top four sides they managed just the one win to go with seven defeats with the win coming at home to Exeter Chiefs
Rotherham
· The Titans were 10th a one place improvement on the previous season taking 12 more points from five more wins although they did pick up fewer try bonus points
· Michael Whitehead top scored with 178 points and it is the third time in four seasons he has finished top scorer for the Titans with 85 points more than last season
· That took Whitehead passed the 400 mark for the Titans in his four seasons at the club and he finished on 419
· In the try scoring stakes winger Jon Feeley led the way with 16 tries to top the try scoring list for a second season, one ahead of Errie Claassens, his 15 tries took him to 38 for the club
· Feeley scored 10 of his 16 tries on the road whilst Claassens scored 10 of his 15 in the first half of matches; both these figures were against the trend
· Two players started 29 of the clubs 30 league matches, centre Brad Hunt and Whitehead with Hunt coming on in the match he did not start in
· Hooker Nigel Conroy started 23 matches and came on in the other seven matches
· They scored 100 tries during the season and scored more away from home than at Clifton Lane, Otley were the only other side to score more tries away from home
· They set a new record for points conceded away from home, 76 at Exeter Chiefs, one more than the previous record against Leicester Tigers when they were in the Premiership
· The 11 tries they conceded in this defeat equalled the club record which had happened twice before against Newcastle and Northampton Saints
Plymouth Albion
· Albion finished 11th which was three places down on last season and their worst ever finish in the division which was previously 9th in 2002/03 their first season in the division
· Ended the season with seven straight defeats and although they finished two places lower in the table they actually got more points, 66 to 64
· Kieran Hallett top scored with 143 points with last year’s leading scorer Ross Laidlaw chipping in with 90 points
· In the try scoring list only six tries was enough to finish leading try scorer with centre Matthew Hopper and wing Justin Mensah Coker joint top
· Second row Arthur Brenton was the only man to start all 30 matches for Albion
· They conceded 85 tries which was fewer than Coventry, Rotherham and Moseley who all finished above them in the table
· Centre Keni Fisilau was sin binned three times which was joint sixth on the list and Albion only picked up 11 all season which was the second lowest number after Champions Leeds Carnegie
· Fisilau has now started 143 matches for Albion in the league which is second amongst backs playing for the club
Esher
· Esher again finished 12th in their second season of National One rugby but with five sides relegated because of the new ‘Championship’ they were one of them
· They conceded fewer points and scored nearly 200 points more and picked up 12 more points, 61 to 49
· They only managed two losing bonus points in 17 defeats which was the lowest total in the division
· Neil Hallett scored 224 points which was the four highest in the division as he finished top of the Esher scoring charts for a fifth season
· He has now scored 1242 points in the league for Esher and during the season he passed 1500 league points having also scored points for Bracknell and Rosslyn Park
· Winger/full back Douglas Flockhart was the leading try scorer with 16, 4th best in the division, to top the Esher try scoring list for a second season and a five try improvement on last season
· Flockhart was also the only player to start all 30 league matches for the club which follows on form last season when he played all but one match for Esher
· Four tries behind Flockhart was England under 29 centre George Lowe who scored his 12 tries from just 16 starts
Sedgley Park
· Park finished 13th and with five relegated are back down a division after five years in National One
· They were a place higher than last season but picked up 10 points fewer, 44 to 34
· They conceded 1206 points which was the most in the division and the most they have ever conceded in a season
· Only picked up 12 sin binnings during the season which was the fourth lowest figure in the division
· Phil Jones top scored for Prk with 130 points for the fourth straight season but he failed to reach the 200 point mark for the first time as he took his park all time points record to 848 in four seasons, in total he has scored 1611 league points with Orrell and Rotherham as well
· He extended his all time record for conversions and penalty goals to 140 and 139 respectively
· Second row Glen Townson was the only Park ever present playing every minute of every match never being replaced whilst Matt Riley was one start behind him
· In the try scoring wing Peter Swatkins in his first season of senior rugby led the way with 14 tries in 28 starts
· They suffered their biggest ever home defeat when beaten 64-0 v Bedford Blues and it was also the most points they have conceded in a home league match
· Suffered a club record 12 consecutive defeats between the 13th December till the 4th April before ending the run with a home win over Otley
Newbury
· Newbury finished 14th in the table a drop of a place on the previous season but with five sides relegated their four season stay in the second tier of English rugby has come to an end
· They only managed two try bonus points all season which was the lowest in the division and were the second lowest scorers in the division by a point from Otley but Otley played a game fewer
· Ben Stevenson finished top scorer for Newbury with 95 points, one more than Gareth Griffiths
· Suffered their worst ever defeat when beaten at home by Champions Leeds Carnegie going down 89-12 and also conceded a record 13 tries, one more than their previous worst
· Wing John Hylton had the most starts 24 but fly half Gareth Griffiths started 23 and came on in six more to make 29 appearances in total
· They only had four players start 20 or more league matches which was the lowest in the division
Otley
· Otley were 15th in the table and were relegated back after just a season in National One for the second time in three seasons
· Tom Rhodes top scored with 104 points in his first season at the club
· Winger Peter Wackett was the leading try scorer with seven tries the lowest total to top the try scoring list at the club since Mark Kirkby back in 2001/02
· Scrum half Dave McCormack started the most games 25 and with two appearances from the bench played in 27 matches which was also the most, two more than prop Ryan Wederell
· Lost a club record 12 consecutive matches at the start of the season before winning narrowly away at Manchester in November
Manchester
· Manchester on their return to National One finished bottom four points behind Otley with just two wins all season in their 30 matches
· Gareth Wynne top scored for Manchester with 121 points for the third consecutive season but with his lowest total to date
· Wynne has now scored 554 points for the club in the league second only to all time leading scorer Steve Swindells who holds the club record with 1410 points
· In the try scoring centre Andre Wilson led the way with seven tries the lowest number to top the try scoring list since Isaac Richmond scored six in 2003/04, Wilson took his Manchester career total to 40 tries as he passed 100 league appearances for the club
· Prop Nick Flynn started the most matches, 29 out of 30 and took his all time record for appearances to 168 plus 13 matches as a replacement
· Second row Ed Norris appeared in all 30 matches starting 28 and coming on in the other two as a replacement
· Scrum half Will Runciman also took part in all 30 matches starting 21 and coming on as a replacement in the other nine matches
· Suffered their worst ever defeat when losing 104-0 in their home match against Champions Leeds Carnegie but the match was played at Headingley midweek
· They conceded a record 16 tries, three more than the previous record which was set against Exeter Chiefs in February 2004
· Suffered a club record 16 straight defeats from the start of the season till just before Christmas when they were 16-12 away day winners at local rivals Sedgley Park, their previous worst run was a 12 match losing run back in 2003/04
