Wharfedale have the edge on Fylde as Ionians stay on top

Rotherham Titans' Zak PooleRotherham Titans' Zak Poole
Rotherham Titans' Zak Poole
Wharfedale battled to a tight win in the National 2 North on Saturday, beating higher-placed Fylde 14-13 at home.

Daniel Stockdale put Wharfedale in front after four minutes, the hooker finishing off a catch and drive from the pack.

Two penalties and a converted try from Fylde put them 13-7 ahead, but Wharfedale hit back only two minutes later.

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Left winger Oliver Cicognini danced between defenders to touch down and cut the deficit before stand-off Jack Blakeney-Edwards kicked the conversion to take a one-point lead at 14-13.

Both sides played strong rugby in the second half, but Wharfedale controlled the game well and kept a skilful Fylde outfit at bay to take the win.

Hull Ionians kept themselves top of the table with a 
22-15 victory over Preston Grasshoppers.

The Yorkshire side raced into the lead with tries from hooker Ben Stephenson, left winger Toni Kuku and the ever-reliable centre Lewis Minikin putting them 22-0 ahead.

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Preston fought back with 20 minutes remaining and cut the deficit to a converted score, but Ionians held strong and stay above Chester on number of victories with both teams on 99 points.

Sheffield Tigers slumped to a second straight loss with hosts Tynedale prevailing 36-19.

Tynedale seized the early initiative, scoring three unanswered tries in the opening 30 minutes.

Tigers eventually woke up with a try from prop Tobias Williams but the damage was done and Tynedale’s eventual six tries confirmed a convincing victory despite two further Tigers tries from centre Jamie Broadley.

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Huddersfield could have gone within a point of second-placed Chester, but they lost out to them 57-10 after having led midway through the first half.

Scrum-half Isaac Green’s try on the half hour was converted by stand-off Chris Johnson who also added a penalty, but their lead was short lived with Chester eventually ending with nine tries to their name.

Elsewhere, Otley were also on the receiving end of a dominant display, losing 60-17 against hosts Stourbridge.

No 8 Adam Malthouse and right winger Josh Hall scored their tries and scrum-half Joe Rowntree converted both, but it wasn’t nearly enough for Otley.

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Rotherham Titans fell to mid-table Cinderford in the National One, losing 36-19.

Attacking assertion fluctuated in the opening half with each team running over for two tries apiece.

No 8 Seb Nagle-Taylor kicked off the scoring for Titans in reply to Cinderford opening the scoring five minutes earlier, before left winger Connor Field replied with a 35th-minute try for the South Yorkshire side.

Rotherham entered the second period with a five-point deficit but could only fashion a lone converted try from wing- forward Zak Poole in response to Cinderford’s three second half scores.

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North Premier champions Hull were in no mood to take their foot off the gas, running in 11 tries on their way to a 67-14 win over Sandal.

Elsewhere, promotion hopefuls Harrogate made hard work of beating hosts Lymm, the Cheshire strugglers eventually falling 26-9 to the Yorkshire side who still managed to secure a bonus point and keep in the hunt for the play-offs.

Ilkley also beat Cheshire opponents, scoring eight tries on their way to a 52-0 win over Wilmslow.

Title hopefuls Scarborough were 34-32 winners over Percy Park in a dramatic North One East match.

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With leaders Morpeth failing to secure a bonus point in a 23-0 win over Driffield, second-placed Scarborough’s hopes of winning the league remain possible.

At the other end of the table, West Leeds’ bid to avoid the drop was boosted with a 20-14 win over Pocklington.

Full-back Jack Marshall, winger Elihia Chitiyo, former Leeds Rhinos winger Mark Calderwood and centre Sam Neave scored their tries in a bonus point win

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