Richmond slipped to their second defeat in a row and their loss against Sale FC means Rosslyn Park are now the new leaders in National One. (Photo Credit: Gareth Lyons)

Park took full advantage of Richmond’s setback as they defeated Hull Ionians and Kieran Power’s side are now top of the pile by virtue of ‘Games Drawn.’

Sticking with ‘Games Drawn’, there were three stalemates across the division in Round 12 whilst elsewhere, Rams, Blackheath and Cinderford all secured excellent away wins.

Rosslyn Park 36-8 Hull Ionians

Rosslyn Park are the new leaders in National One following a bonus-point win over Hull Ionians.

The first half ended with the hosts 17-3 ahead with Ben Howard (2) and Nick Scott going over, whilst Max Titchener landed a penalty for the I’s.

Hugo Ellis’ touchdown gave the home side some more breathing space, and tries from Greg Gillanders and Craig Holland saw Park race to victory.

Lewis Minikin did score late on for the visitors, but Park were able to stretch their unbeaten run to five matches.

Sale FC 8-7 Richmond

Richmond have been knocked off the summit of National One after falling to back-to-back defeats against Sale FC.

Jeremy To’a’s try gave Sale the lead on 19 minutes, but they weren’t ahead for long as Richmond hit back through a converted Toby Eaton score.

Following a tense first-half, the hosts nudged themselves in front thanks to a Chris Johnson penalty and Sale were able to see out the rest of the contest thanks to some excellent game management.

Jarad Williams was yellow-carded for the home side, but Richmond failed to capitalise on the extra man as Steve Hill’s side dropped to second in the league standings.

Canterbury 22-48 Rams RFC

Rams RFC produced a blistering first half display as they defeated Canterbury to move up to third place in National One.

Early Jamie Guttridge, Connor Hayhow and Tom Vooght tries were followed by scores from Jak Rossiter and Jack Moates as Rams led 29-17 at the Marine Travel Ground.

Efforts from Tristan King and Tyler Oliver had just about kept Canterbury in this contest, but the Rams were eager to hammer home their advantage after the interval.

Hayhow, Simon Humberstone and Rossiter all crossed to wrap up an excellent afternoon’s work for Seb Reynolds’ side. Charlie Grimes dotted down for Canterbury, but it was merely a consolation for the division’s bottom club.

Birmingham Moseley 5-9 Blackheath

Three Mark Cooke penalties gave Blackheath the victory in a tightly contested fixture against Cambridge at Billesley Common.

Cooke’s trio of kicks were all from long range as ‘Club’ fought back after falling 5-3 behind due to Danny Wright’s try in the second period.

Moseley tried to fashion a response, but the closest they came was through Ben Palmer who struck the crossbar with a penalty as ‘Club’ clinched the win in the Midlands.

Rotherham Titans 7-30 Cinderford

Rotherham Titans’ difficult season continued as Cinderford sealed a bonus-point win at Clifton Lane.

Zak Poole crossed to put Rotherham ahead, but the visitors responded extremely well as Harry Hone, Nathan Taylor and Ed Bouge all crossed following a James Butler penalty.

Butler landed his second penalty after the break before flanker Matt Gilbert crashed through as Cinderford recorded their sixth away win of the campaign whilst Rotherham are now 11 points from safety.

Plymouth Albion 10-10 Chinnor

Chinnor battled to a hard-fought draw with Plymouth Albion to stretch their unbeaten run to four matches.

The game sparked into life after a scoreless 53 minutes and Chinnor’s excellent work in defence was rewarded when Laurence May finally broke the deadlock from the tee.

Albion responded almost instantly as James Salter rounded off a nice move to put the home side in front and they were able to stretch their advantage through the boot of Dan Powell.

However, Chinnor were able to find an answer 11 minutes from time as Sam Yawayawa’s converted score levelled the game up and despite the momentum being with the visitors, they were unable to snatch the victory late on.

Old Elthamians 17-17 Bishop’s Stortford

Alex Goble scored a try in the final 10 minutes for Old Elthamians as they salvaged a share of the spoils against Bishop’s Stortford.

Goble latched on to a superb offload from Louis Brown to dot down and Tom White’s pin-point conversion was enough to earn the hosts a draw.

Tom Concu’s try and a penalty from White saw OEs battle back from 10-0 down in the first period after the boot of Brad Burr and a score from James Ayrton had put Stortford deservedly in front.

The visitors moved ahead again just before the hour as Harrison King dotted down, but OEs managed to hit back once again to secure two points at College Meadow.

Cambridge 17-17 Darlington Mowden Park

Cambridge’s upturn in form in National One continued, but they did have to fightback to earn a draw with Darlington Mowden Park.

Richie Williams’ side came into this contest off the back of a superb victory over Birmingham Moseley in Round 11 and they made a flying start to this encounter following Joe Tarrant’s early score.

The Blood and Sand did lead 8-3 at half-time as Warren Seals and Ben Penfold exchanged penalties, but DMP moved in front after the restart as Ben Dixon crossed the whitewash.

Cambridge responded through Penfold who landed two penalties, but DMP thought they had won this encounter two minutes from time as Oli Hodgson barged his way over.

However, there was to be a late twist as the impressive Penfold kept his cool from the tee to clinch a share of the points for Cambridge.