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Captain's Preview; Burnley (A)

Captain's Preview; Burnley (A)

Chris Brannigan27 Feb 2015 - 12:41
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Can TC make it 3 on the bounce...?

This weekend sees our 1's travel over to Burnley knowing full well what is in store for us when we arrive. Birchfield were the visitors to the Windmill last weekend & were dispatched of fairly comfortably 29-12 in what was a fairly lacklustre performance at times by TC. This week will see a similar challenge set by hosts, Burnley, who favour a strong & abrasive approach, but are equally as comfortable in letting their Backline play their part. Burnley's 19-7 victory away at St. Eddie's last weekend saw them leapfrog Birchfield in to 8th, just one position behind TC. Three points separate the rivals, although we do have two games in hand over them. The 18-3 victory for TC back in November in the reverse tie of this fixture showed what a tough nut Burnley are to crack & re-emphasises that tomorrow's clash will be a hard fought, physical, close contest. This fixture last season produced 3 Yellow Cards (1 TC & 2 Burnley).

The TC line up is much changed from last week despite a number of excellent debuts. Neil Wright returns to 1st XV rugby after a short time with our 2nd XV where he deputises for the missing Hanson. Richard Docherty remains at Hooker after a solid debut last weekend. Hooker is a highly contested position with up to 5 Hookers being registered for the 1's & all capable of slotting in. James Gorrie returns from work commitments to return to the starting line up. Callum Holland remains in the Second Row after a decent game last weekend where he showed glimpses of what he is capable of. Tom Bailey moves in for the injured Ralph Clarke. Tom has been a regular face with the 1's this season & was extremely unlucky to miss out on selection last weekend. The Back Row is as it was last weekend, where they produced 4 assists & 1 try between them. Hoddinott at 6, Skipper Brannigan at 7 & last week's MOTM, Tom Cockcroft, at 8.

The backline also sees some enforced changes. Vice Captain, Chris Clapp, stays in the 9 shirt, as does Orwin in the 10. Pete Macauley moves up from 15 in to the Centres at 12. Pete is an extremely comfortable ball player & defensively is as solid as they come, I for one am excited to see him in this role. Wolstencroft stays at Outside Centre & Mellor-Clark on the Wing. Will Gardner is unavailable but thankfully it is not his hamstring!! He is just drinking shandy down South, so Ryan Haywood steps in to the Wing position. Fullback sees the return of Sean Donnelly to 1st XV rugby. Sean has been almost ever present in the 10 shirt for our 2nd XV this season & has been knocking on the 1st XV door for some time. He has waited patiently for the opportunity & when it did come about against Ashton, the fixture was cancelled. So after Captaining the 2's away in Blackburn last weekend he gets the nod to step in to 15.

The bench is strong & physical. Pete Keay continues to develop & learn & will be looking to throw around his weight when he comes on tomorrow. Ex-Blackpool man, Wayne Daws, will be chomping at the bit to make an impression tomorrow. Wayne has played for the 1st XV on a number of occasions this season & I will be looking at him to grasp the opportunity tomorrow by coming on & stamping his authority on the match. Toby Holder-Williams completes our bench. Toby is possibly our most versatile player at TC & is equally strong in all departments, he will be a real threat from the bench tomorrow.

Good luck to our 2nd XV who are entertaining Burnley at Home.

Meet time for the 1's is 11:45 in TC kit. Shirt & tie required for post game.

Brannigan

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