Forwards help Ionians maintain pressure as Wigglesworth goes in at double for Hull

The East Yorkshire side began well enough with flanker Kerry Wood scoring after three minutes.

A clash of heads led to Mark Wigham being red-carded but Ionians continued to build and flanker Joe Sanders touched down on 24 minutes, stand-off Chris Reakes converting to give them a 12-0 lead.

Dudley hit back shortly after. Centre Gareth Brown converted his own 27th-minute try and scrum-half Connah Jones added a second try shortly before the 
interval to level the scores at 
12-12.

Right winger Josh Watkins then raced in seven minutes after play resumed and Brown added the extras as the Midlands side took a 19-12 lead.

Ionians’ forwards, however, were piling on the pressure.

Sure enough, with three minutes left, the visitors were awarded a penalty try after Dudley had collapsed a driving maul on three occasions.

Reakes added the conversion to level the scores at 19-19 and then added a late penalty to clinch the win which leaves Ionians seven points behind leaders Stourbridge.

Hull secured a narrow victory at home, winning 34-30 over Westoe.

They opened an early 12-0 lead with centres Stephen Slingsby and Ben Thoy touching down, Greg Lound adding one conversion.

Westoe hit back to lead 20-12 at half-time with tries from Dan Rundle and Scott Powell, and Matt Mellish kicked both conversions and two penalties.

However, winger Jim Wigglesworth ran in on 44 minutes to narrow the gap. Westoe’s Joe McKenzie bagged another try to keep his side ahead.

Flanker Ben Dorrington and scrum-half Dan White bagged tries of 55 and 64 minutes, respectively, James Cameron converting one, as Hull went 29-25 ahead, and an interception try from Wigglesworth put the home side 34-25 ahead.

Not even a late try by Rundle could salvage the win for Westoe, although they took a losing bonus point.

Bottom club Huddersfield ran in three tries but ended up frustrated after failing to pick up any points from a 28-20 home defeat to Sheffield Tigers.

The hosts were beaten by four tries to three in a much more promising display on the back of a half-century defeat at home to Birmingham last time out.

Dan Hyde’s men started brightly with a try for captain and No 8 Nick Sharpe after pressure from the scrum.

The advantage was doubled when a driving maul ended with a try for No 7 Gareth Lewis. From the restart, Sheffield hit back with a converted try by winger Brett Thame-Loose, against the run of play, but the balance soon swung back to the home side.

A chip ahead and collection by full-back Jack Moon in the build-up to half-time took the lead to 17-7 and it was thoroughly deserved.

However, Huddersfield were rocked on their heels by an interception try from 50 metres after the restart. Tigers then took the lead when missed tackles allowed centre Alex Graham in between the posts but good pressure and a penalty brought Huddersfield back within a point.

With two minutes remaining, the result was decided when full-back Peter Swatkins broke through to score his side’s fourth try, which was converted. Sheffield are seventh after their 13th win of the campaign.

Seventh-placed Otley also registered their 13th win, pulling off a 15-13 victory at Caldy where muddy conditions dictated play.

The Otley pack responded to the challenge in this hard battle against their close rivals, who made a good start, hooker Jones peeling off a rolling maul to score after 14 minutes.

Caldy began to be put under pressure and lost No 6 Broadbent to the sin-bin, with Twomey kicking the resulting penalty.

Although struggling, Caldy managed to free winger Dickinson, who scored in the corner but the second-half clearly belonged to Otley.

They were awarded a penalty try after a series of collapsed scrums, and it was converted by Twomey on 54 minutes.

Although they conceded a penalty goal on 64 minutes and fly-half Vasey’s boot put Caldy in the lead, Otley continued to dominate and, when Caldy suffered another yellow card, No 8 Ball powered over to win it for the visitors, who are now in fifth position.