Melbourne beat Long Eaton and won the 1st v 2nd battle 22-15 and as expected it was a close game. Windy conditions prevailed and Melbourne played the conditions well with the wind behind them in the second half.

What a mixed bag for the rest with both Pete and Matt getting 3 of the results wrong - what do we know about this league?

Southwell got their 3rd win of the campaign with an 18-3 win against Market Rasen who are in a real slump at the moment.

Ashbourne lost their unbeaten home record to Ilkeston 25-29 with Ilkeston taking a bonus point win. Ashbourne picked up 2 bonus points themselves.

And Newark returned to winning ways with a close fought 24-21 win against local rivals Lincoln. A losing BP for Lincoln but no try BP for Newark.

We both agreed that Dronfield would win at Ashby and that was the case with a powerful performance and a 10-37 win for Dronfield.

The game we disagreed on was Matlock v Loughborough. Loughborough continued their fine form with a fine 5-22 away win though missing the Try BP.

So where does that leave the table with 8 games to go?

Melbourne are top 16 points clear but still have to travel to 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Dronfield are now up to second with LE dropping to 5th after the weekend, but only 1 point separates 2nd - 5th with Ashbourne and Loughborough sandwiched. Then there is a slight gap to 6th placed Matlock. Southwell and Ashby are still at the bottom 14 and 10 points respectively adrift of 10th placed Ilkeston.

Next week see Melbourne nip down the road to Loughborough KO 2.15.

Preview week 16 on Friday