Reds roll on

On Friday night, Jersey Reds continued their unbeaten run with a bonus-point victory against Nottingham to secure their ninth straight win. The Reds outscored The Archers by five tries to three, with Antonio TJ Harris banking a hat-trick to become the league's joint-second top try scorer behind Ealing Trailfinders' Carlo Tizzano. Ryan Olowofela kept the hosts within range with a brace, but tries from Eoghan Clarke and Jordan Holgate put the result almost beyond doubt heading into the final 10 minutes. Nottingham managed a late score through the prolific David Williams, but it wasn't enough to clinch a losing bonus point. 

Fine margins at Paton Field and Castle Park

Caldy and Doncaster Knights crept past Cornish Pirates and London Scottish by the finest of margins: 15-14. Cornish Pirates started brightly against Caldy and broke into a 14-point lead through Ruaridh Dawson and Shae Tucker, complemented by four points from the boot of Arwel Robson, but the hosts responded with three points from Elliot Gourlay and kept the Pirates off the scoreboard for the remainder of the match. Nick Royle cut the deficit one minute after the restart, and Mike Cartmill scored another on the hour mark, with Gourlay's second consecutive conversion crucially pushing Caldy into a one-point lead: an advantage they held on to for the remainder of the match. Doncaster Knights fought back from 14 points down to clinch a tight win against London Scottish. Harri Morris and Brynmor Bradley put the visitors in front with two well-worked scores, but Doncaster hit back in the second half with three unconverted tries from Maliq Holden, George Simpson and Will Holling as the Knights banked their fifth win of the campaign to leapfrog Nottingham in the table.

Trailfinders remain top

Ealing Trailfinders exacted revenge for last year's home defeat to Bedford Blues with a six-try win against Mike Rayer's side. The hosts broke into a 21-3 lead with tries from Shaun Malton, Carlo Tizzano and Pat Howard, with Louis Grimoldby's 21st-minute penalty the only score for the visitors in the first half. Matt Worley reduced the deficit with a try for the Blues seconds after the restart, but Tizzano and Malton crossed for their second tries of the afternoon soon after. Heading into the final 10 minutes, Jake Garside and Cam Terry traded tries, but it didn't affect Ealing's 25-point win margin, as the West Londoners head into Round 10 with a point-perfect record still intact. 

Hartpury stun in-form Coventry

Hartpury denied Coventry a fourth straight win in The Championship with a second-half fightback. Alex Morgan crossed for the hosts inside two minutes, and Harry Short followed that up with a second in the 14th minute, but Coventry responded well with first-half tries from Will Talbot-Davies, Tom Dodd, Senitiki Nayalo to take a five-point lead into the break. Harry Short crossed for his second four minutes after the restart, but James Martin restored Coventry's lead six minutes later. With an hour on the clock, Hartpury struck twice in three minutes through Sam Smith and Jack Davies and sealed the win in the 74th minute through Arthur Lennon. Will Rigg hit one back for the visitors in the 76th minute, but the final word went, fittingly, to Tom Mathews, who rounded off a 100% performance from the tee with a 78th-minute penalty. 

All square at The RAG

Richmond struck late at The RAG to claim a draw against Ampthill - the first tied match of the 2022/23 season. Caleb Montgomery scored for The Mob after five minutes, but a Joseph Vajner brace saw the hosts take a 14-7 lead into the break. Ampthill drew level five minutes after the restart when the in-form Morgan Strong crashed over, and Conor Rankin slotted the subsequent conversion, and then took the lead when Alex Harmes dotted down on the hour mark, with Rankin again converting from the tee. With the clock ticking down, Richmond piled on the pressure and eventually got their reward when Jack Stafford crossed in the 78th minute, and Darren Atkins levelled from the tee. The draw sees Richmond and Ampthill remain 9th and 10th in the league but close the gap on eighth-placed Cornish Pirates to just two points.