Hull Ionians pay heavy price but Sheffield Tigers extend their lead

Winger Aquile Smith scored two tries and stand-off Greg Lound added two early penalties, but it wasn’t enough to challenge for victory with Blackheath running in seven second-half tries.

Wharfedale were edged out 22-21 at home by Richmond.

An unconverted try from Richmond’s Alastair Lyon was answered by George Hedgley, with Jamie Guy nudging Dale in front from the tee.

But Jack Allcock’s try – converted by Chris Reakes – gave the visitors a 12-7 half-time lead.

Matteo Zambruno added two more unconverted tries for Richmond before the hosts hit back with converted tries from Matt Beesley and Cameron Hudson.

Otley went down 50-17 at Tynedale in National Two North, despite tries from second rows Declan Dunne and Jack Scott-Paul and hooker Ben Steele.

Two penalties from centre Lewis Minikin were not enough as Harrogate lost 12-6 at Preston Grasshoppers, while Sandal were beaten 19-8 at Broadstreet, centre Mark Pease scoring their only try.

And battling Huddersfield also lost on the road, 22-10 at leaders Macclesfield.

Sheffield Tigers extended their lead at the top of National Three North to 20 points as second-placed Wirral returned empty-handed from Cleckheaton.

Tigers collected their 18th bonus point of the campaign when they ran in eight tries in a 55-27 win at bottom-placed Burnage.

Hull took an impressive 
51-16 win against Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield YMCA with eight different players crashing over for their eight tries.

They carried a narrow 13-9 lead into the second half after tries from Lee Birch and Tom Price.

But they drove home their advantage after the break with further tries from Jim Wigglesworth, Josh Bragman, Will Robinson, Alex Heard, Dave Hague, Adam Ryder and Ben Sullivan. Tomasi Tamuni was also in the points when he converted four of the tries as well as kicking a penalty.

Cleckheaton moved up a place to tenth in the table thanks to their hard-fought 20-12 home win over Wirral.

Ilkley were deserved 27-13 winners over Rossendale.

Sheffield consolidated their third place with a tough 17-13 home win over Birkenhead Park, while Firwood Waterloo, who were just a point behind them, suffered a surprise 41-23 defeat at Billingham.

Doncaster Phoenix marched on at the head of North One East with a 59-6 win at Beverley.

Flanker Rob Debenshire, winger James Wright and centre Will Burden all scored two tries.

Second-placed Morley scored 12 tries on the way to a thumping 74-14 triumph against a sorry Northern side.

Scott Glynn, Dante Van Der Merwe, Iain Fim and Karl Bradshaw all scored two tries each, with Will Smyth, Brandon Hannam, captain Mark Chester and debutant Josh Longson also crashing over.

Driffield moved ahead of Pocklington with a bonus winning 24-12 victory at Guisborough, while Pocklington lost 20-5 at West Hartlepool.

Ben Blacker scored a second half hat-trick as Driffield came back from 12-0 down. The visitors failed to score in the first half but were defensively much better after the break and their efforts were duly rewarded.

An injury-time try saw Percy Park snatch a 16-15 home win over Wheatley Hills.

A weakened Dinnington side lost on the road as a long trip to Morpeth ended in a 22-16 loss.

Mikey Leitch and Johnny West both crashed over but unfortunately it wasn’t enough, despite the six reserve side players impressing.

Bradford and Bingley maintained the status quo at the top of Yorkshire One with a 41-14 home win over Old Crossleyans.

The Bees’ front row of Roger Raper, Matthew Cochrane and Ryan Wederell all scored tries.

Second-placed Malton and Norton stayed on the pace with a 31-26 win at Yarnbury.

West Leeds went a step closer to the Yorkshire Two title when they thrashed visitors Barnsley 52-0.