Sedgley aiming to prove it’s not grim up north

NATIONAL Two North leaders Sedgley Park look destined to secure their first trophy since 2004, and head coach Scott Barrow says they are hoping to play their part in growing the game up north.

With fellow northern sides Hull and Leeds Tykes facing the drop from National One, Barrow hopes that his side hold their own in the third tier and takes inspiration from title fighting Sale FC, who came into this weekend in second.

He said: “Next season is definitely going to be tougher, shown by the northern teams at the bottom of National One. Ideally, we’d want northern teams higher up to help northern rugby. It looks like we’re going to lose Hull, and Leeds Tykes are floating around at the bottom as well.

“A lot of clubs are just happy playing in the local leagues, but we want to go up and represent ourselves the best we can up there. Sale FC are at the top end of that having a good run with opportunities to go even further but it would be nice to see more northern clubs in National One.”

Sedgley came into this weekend 12 points clear at the top of National Two North after 20 wins from 22 games and Barrow is understandably delighted with the campaign. He added: “We made an emphatic start, going on a strong winning run, they weren’t all perfect performances, but the lads trained hard and showed up every week.”

The Manchester-based side last lifted silverware almost 20 years ago when they were promoted to the Championship and, after being on the fringes of promotion in recent years, former Leeds Carnegie fly-half Barrow shares it would mean a great deal to guide Sedgley to promotion.

He said: “They’ve floated in and around promotion for a while at the top end of National Two and in the playoffs. There’s people that have been here eight to ten years and haven’t had any championship wins, so this’ll mean a great deal to them.”