Unlucky Huddersfield have their hopes of late win charged down

Huddersfield 25 Caldy 26A LATE penalty was all that separated the sides as Caldy denied Huddersfield victory.

The result came down to margins of error as the two stand-offs, Chris Johnson and Richard Vasey, enjoyed a kicking contest.

The visitors grabbed the first try to lead 7-3 before Huddersfield’s Johnson converted his own try.

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Johnson added two further penalties to make it 16-7 before Caldy took control. Vasey was accurate with two goal attempts before, on the stroke of half-time, a converted try took the visitors into a 20-16 lead.

Two quick penalties after the break from Johnson put Huddersfield back ahead, only for Vasey to strike again. That advantage remained until five minutes from time when Johnson landed a drop-goal and seemed to have won it at 25-23. However, a scrum infringement gave Vasey one more penalty and he took full advantage to make it 26-25.

The hosts were camped in Caldy’s 22 during the dying minutes but when the opportunity came, Johnson saw his drop-goal charged down to end Huddersfield’s hopes.

Nuneaton 26 Sheffield Tigers 22

AFTER beating former league leaders Luctonians the previous week, Sheffield Tigers lost after a disappointing performance.

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Tigers scored the only try of the first half after playing some good rugby, but the home side led 9-5 at half-time.

Stand-off Lee Chapman kicked three early penalties for Nuneaton before inside centre John Buchanan raced in after 32 minutes to narrow the gap.

After the break, the Midlands outfit hit back with centre William Haynes touching down on 41 minutes, and left winger Elliott Brown raced in five minutes later, Chapman adding the extras.

Jonny West touched down on 53 minutes and added the extras, and when Jamie Broadley added their third try on the hour-mark, Tigers were 21-17 behind.

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Haynes added a second try shortly after to extend their lead, and when No 8 Nick Pearson touched down on 68 minutes for Tigers it was not enough to salvage victory although it did give them two bonus points for a fourth try and for losing by less than seven points.

Loughborough St 35 Hull 7

HULL’S hopes of picking up only their second win of the season were dashed in the Midlands.

With 10 minutes gone, the Students’ dangerman, centre Edmund Rolston, rounded off a sweeping move to score out wide but Chris Surman missed the conversion.

Two penalties from Surman in the 18th and 22 minutes extended the home side’s lead and they added to Hull’s problems when winger Callum Wilson nipped in for an unconverted try on 29.

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Although it looked as if they might penetrate the home defence, Hull were either let down by a mistake or falling foul of the referee at a crucial time.

Turning round 16-0 down, Hull soon found Rolston popping up for his second try and Surman added the conversion.

Hull hopes were raised briefly when a move started by Phil Murphy ended with winger Alex Piercy scoring and Greg Lound adding the conversion.

The Students struck back with tries in the 67th and 78th minutes by Craig Holland and Chris Kinloch, the second converted by Stuart Hall.

Otley 46 Kendal 34

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HAT-tricks for both wing men illustrated Otley’s approach but yellow cards on 40 and 52 minutes allowed Kendal to turn a 12 -point deficit into a five-point lead, which the hosts did well to overhaul.

The visitors made the early running, pressing the Otley line but a turnover saw the ball shipped to James Twomey, restored to the wing with the return of James Kleinhorst at full-back.

Seizing the opportunity, he raced the length of the field.

Full-back Mark Ireland hit back with a penalty but No 8 Chris Hill went in at the corner for Twomey to convert and he then finished a crossfield move in style, before appearing outside left winger James Wood to grab his third try.

Defending a five-metre lineout , Otley lost Adam Malthouse to the sin bin, Kendal taking advantage to score through flanker Gary Holmes, Ireland converting.

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In the first 13 minutes of the second half, Kendal added tries by replacement Dan Lowther and Ireland, who converted both and added a penalty.

Although still a man short, with hooker Ben Steele in the bin, Otley began to take charge and a long pass from Tom Rock, operating successfully at fly-half, put Wood away, Kleinhorst taking over the kicking to convert and then adding a penalty.

Catching the restart, flanker Dan Temm capped a fine game by breaking down the wing to hand Wood an easy touchdown.

Then a powerful run by replacement Tobias Williams set Wood up for his third try, Kleinhorst converting both. A charge down at the restart allowed visiting centre Dave Barton to satisfy the referee that he had touched down, Ireland converting.

Hull Ionians 16 Leicester Lions 27

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Hull Ionians’ forwards dominated the opening quarter and set up enough chances to go 20 points clear but failure to exploit overlaps cost the team dearly.

In reply, the Lions had two chances in the second quarter and took both opportunities to take control, even though they were also suffering from poor ball control.

From 20 minutes of pressure, at least Ionians’ Isaac Green kicked two penalties to one from halfway by Jon Boden.

After 27 minutes, a deep kick from Jon Boden forced their first attacking lineout and the pack drove Marc Howgate over.

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Then Ionians knocked on in a good attacking position and Lions kicked deep with no cover in place for Scott Morris to scramble over for a try after the covering defence tapped it instead of cleaning up, Boden converting.

Lions opened the second half with a run from deep by Gareth Collins, setting up the attack for James Stokes to run free between the posts, Boden converting again.

Ionians’ pack again stamped their authority on the game for the next 20 minutes and a series of five-metre scrums saw Green dive in before Brett Hunt was released to the corner to at least bring up the prospect of a losing bonus point.

However, lost possession at the restart saw Joe Marston kick ahead and race in to score and prevent Ionians claiming the bonus.

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It also gave the Lions their bonus point, leaving Ionians with a lot of hard work to do to retrieve their season.

They lie bottom of the table with four points from six games, six below neighbours Hull and Harrogate.