Champions Newport finish with a flourish to pass 1,000 points

The Midlands Premier champions secured a 43-21 success away to Nuneaton in their final league outing of a season to remember.

The victory, Newport’s 23rd in 26 matches, saw them finish with 114 points and 13 points clear of second-placed Sheffield.

The seven tries they scored also means they have put 1,008 points on the scoreboard this season.

Samuel Evans led the victory charge with a hat-trick of tries. Frederick Bailey, Ratu Nawaqaliva, Craig Wilson and David Manning also touched down, while Jacob Leonard added four conversions.

“It was a nice way for the lads to finish on Saturday,” said head coach and director of rugby Bob Adams. “It felt a bit strange with nothing to play for. But the players had said a couple of weeks ago after winning promotion that they wanted to finish the season strong.

“Winning becomes a habit and they wanted to take that feeling into the higher level next season.

“We played in patches, we played well when we had to. We were 7-0 down and then 21-7 up. We then gave away a couple of sloppy tries but that seemed to jolt us into life and we finished strongly.

“We have ended up with 23 wins from 26 games and broken the 1,000 point barrier which is a great achievement.”

Adams will now turn his attention to completing a double as he starts planning for the North Midlands Cup final against Bromsgrove at Worcester on May 8.

“The players have had this week off and we will be back in on Tuesday to start preparing for the North Midlands Cup final,” added Adams.

“It would be nice to finish with a league and cup double. It will be the last North Midlands Cup final and it would be great to be the last winners of the competition.

“But it will be a tough game. Bromsgrove finished in the top five of our division for a reason.

“I will have a look at the videos of the games we played against them and try to come up with a plan.”

Bridgnorth saw their hopes of a Midlands Premier top three finish dashed on the last day of the season.

North travelled to Syston for their final league outing for what was a shootout for third place.

But unfortunately for the visitors the contest was effectively over after 20 minutes by which point the home side had already gained a bonus-point try. The hosts extended their lead to 52-0 but North never gave up grabbed a consolation try through George Newman.

Head coach Mikey Jones will be looking for his Ludlow charges to kick on again next season.

Ludlow made impressive progress this term and capped a superb campaign by securing a top four finish in Midlands One West.

And with a squad packed with young talent, Jones will be looking for more improvement further down the line.

“It’s been a really good season,” said Jones. “We had our sights on the top four, but I think we have exceeded our expectations a bit with the way we have played.

“And it’s been very pleasing to see the players on the fringes step up.

“We have a good young squad with a few old heads among them.

“We are in a good place with the squad we have and the experience the younger players have gained this season will stand them in good stead.

“The aim is to build on what has been a successful season and keep improving.

“That’s the aim and it’s my job to make sure it happens.”

Ludlow ended the season with a 57-14 defeat away to fifth-placed Stratford Upon Avon. Tom Holloway and Jack Lines scored Ludlow’s tries.

Whitchurch finished seventh after closing with a narrow 20-19 defeat at home to second-placed Kenilworth.

Telford Hornets ended their superb promotion-winning Midlands Three West (North) campaign on a high.

In front of a large home crowd, Hornets beat Burntwood 37-18 to record their 17th win in 20 league outings.

Captain Steve Monk got the ball rolling with a pair of tries, and he was joined on the scoresheet by Josh Backhouse and Will Brench, the latter touching down twice.

Elsewhere in the division, Shrewsbury took advantage of Burntwood’s defeat to finish the season in third place. They thrashed Shropshre rivals Clee Hill 64-13 to snatch the position, with Clee Hill ending the campaign in seventh.

Cleobury Mortimer had already completed their league fixtures, ending the season in ninth.

Midlands Four West (North) champions Oswestry ended their season in fine style with a 43-10 victory on the road at Rugeley.

The success ensured Oswestry finished with an unbeaten record of 21 wins and one draw.

Prior to kick-off, both teams formed a semi-circle on the halfway line to pay their respects to former Oswestry player Paul Butter, who died last week.

Connor Bishop (two), Jed Corbett (three), Iwan Ellis and Aiden Lyndsay scored their tries.

And Market Drayton Ravens have capped a superb season by finishing just behind Oswestry after coming from behind to draw 24-24 with Trentham, while Barton-Under-Needwood slipped up.

Ulaiasi Bogi, Michael Felton, Chad Fieldhouse all touched down, with Alex Gammon holding his nerve to land a fine conversion from the touchline to secure the draw.

News then filtered through that Barton had lost at Wednesbury which resulted in Ravens bagging second place.

Bishop’s Castle & Onny Valley completed their campaign with a 29-10 defeat at St Leonards in Midlands Five West (South).