BLAYDON are now just four points from the top of SSE National One following their 39-12 rout of struggling Cambridge.
As the Crow Trees club were celebrating a seventh consecutive league victory, news of Rosslyn Park’s 33-24 defeat at Wharfedale filtered through. Micky Ward’s men remain third in the table, level on points with the London club, four behind new leaders Ealing.
The director of rugby had cautioned against complacency going into Saturday’s home date, and his words seemed to have hit the spot as they had a 22-0 advantage and a four-try bonus point in the bag before half-time. A 14-minute blitz saw skipper Matt Hall’s opener quickly followed by scores from Gavin Painter, Ben Morris and Tommy Banks, with James Hamilton and Tom Jeffrey adding further tries after the break.
At the other end of the table Matty Outson’s conversion of a last-minute Sam Reynolds try handed Tynedale a losing bonus point at Blackheath. Tyne were defeated 21-14 in the end, having trailed 14-7 at half-time through Ollie Steadman’s try.
In National Two North, Darlington Mowden Park dropped out of the top three following their 15-13 loss at Hull, where two Chris McTurk tries at least gave them a losing bonus point in only their third defeat of the season.
Westoe shipped eight tries in a 66-14 drubbing at Caldy, while Percy Park’s 21-20 triumph at Harrogate keeps them third in National Three North, where West Hartlepool sit third from bottom after a 30-25 home loss to Waterloo.
Darlington shaded a rare all-county clash in North One East with a 22-18 home victory over Durham city, and in Durham and Northumberland One Alnwick’s lead at the top was reduced to six points as Consett ended their unbeaten start in a 24-15 home triumph.
Gateshead became the latest team to inflict misery on Sunderland who were beaten for the 12th game running, this time 62-7, while in Division Two there are new leaders. Bishop Auckland top the table on the back of their 42-15 rout of Seaton Carew, with Redcar beaten 34-15 at North Shields.
In Division Three, Hartlepool BBOB remain in control, defeating Yarm 52-7.
