National 2N By MALCOLM KNOWLES

Hull Ionians......25pts Sheffield T........26pts Touching down: Oliver Butterworth scores for Sheffield Tigers, and right, James Sanderson scores Ionians’ third try PICTURES: Steve Mowyer CLOSE but no cigar. It’s not entirely certain what it means and, of course, one can’t condone smoking, but whatever, Ionians failed by the narrowest of margins to register their first victory in ten. Ionians produced some of their most cohesive rugby for some weeks during the opening exchanges, but there was an early indication it wasn’t...