Nuns are stunned by struggling Syston

LEADERS Nuneaton suffered a shock 26-19 defeat at rock-bottom Syston – the home side’s second win in a row.

Tim Douglas touched down for the Nuns after seven minutes but Matthew Ferguson replied midway through the first half with Adam Nunney’s conversion giving Syston the edge.

Nuneaton’s Umraan Jadwat traded efforts with Sam Reid late in the first half before James Moreton ran in the visitors’ third try to establish a 19-14 lead at the interval.

However, up stepped Nunney to land a trio of penalties inside ten secondhalf minutes which turned the tide and while Nuneaton created a handful of presentable openings, Syston remained relatively untroubled.

Nunney then made certain of victory with a last-minute kick to hand Sheffield, whose match at

Old Halesonians fell victim to the weather, an unexpected boost in their title bid.

That somewhat overshadowed Lichfield’s latest leap away from danger, a 36-12 comeback triumph over high-flying Birmingham & Solihull.

The Bees led through Chris Goddard’s try which was quickly wiped out by Greg Massey’s response.

Goddard, with the help of Jack Jolly’s conversion, made it 12-7 but a Greg Massey penalty followed by Jonny Evans’s converted effort put Lichfield in front at the break.

It was one-way traffic in the second half with Richard Burton and Will Cotterhill scoring either side of a penalty try.

Broadstreet beat Towcestrians 32-12 to move up to second. It was the Coventry-based outfit’s eighth match without defeat despite the visitors scoring through Dave Devlin-Jones and Nicky Blackham.

Derby gave themselves breathing space over the bottom three with a hardfought 25-17 success over Bridgnorth.

Tom Taylor-Dawes and Emilien Cabale were among the try scorers with George Castledine’s kicking proving crucial.

Longton gave themselves a seven-point cushion over the danger zone by beating Bedford Athletic 20-5. Peterborough Lions made it eight without defeat by overcoming Sandbach 39-15 at Bretton Park.