News & EventsLatest NewsCalendar
NCL Division One, Match Preview

NCL Division One, Match Preview

Neil Farrell16 Mar 2017 - 18:34
Share via
FacebookTwitter
https://www.pitchero.com/clubs

Underbank Rangers vs York Acorn, Saturday March 18th at 2-30pm

Upbeat Underbank coach Richard Knight is confident his club can start a National Conference League campaign with two straight wins for the first time in six years.
The men from Holmfirth opened their First Division campaign with a narrow 24-22 home triumph over derby rivals Shaw Cross last weekend.
Rangers now hope to make it two out of two at home to York Acorn tomorrow (2.30).
And although their visitors go into the game having secured a 36-22 opening triumph at home to Castleford Lock Lane six days ago, Knight believes his players won’t let him down.
“Everyone’s feeling really positive after last week’s win,” said Knight.
“We’ve been notoriously slow starters over the years, and we haven’t won our opening game of the season for six years, so this was a pretty significant result for us.
“It wasn’t easy against Shaw Cross. We lacked a bit of composure at times and didn’t get the rub of the green off the referee, which meant we were on the end of a very harsh 17-10 penalty count.
“But we ended up on the right side of the result, and with Casey Clark, Danny Hirst and Billy Rogers all looking good on debut, and the likes of Sam Rochford, Craig Williams and Sam Ansell proving a real threat throughout, the early signs bode very well.
“The victory has given us a solid platform to build on, which is exactly what we intend to do.
“It’s obviously very early days in the season and we’re not sure what York Acorn have to offer, but we’d definitely be very disappointed if we didn’t make it two out of two this weekend.”
And Knight is looking forward to handing a debut to former Giants Under 20s prop Luke Roberts, who comes in to enable fellow forward Tom Stringer to recover from a shoulder knock.
“The fact Luke was on the Giants books about five years ago proves he’s no mug,” added Knight.
“He took a break from the game in order to pursue a career as a golf greenkeeper, which involve undertaking a PGA course in Denmark.
“But he’s back in this country now and working on a freelance basis, which means he can start playing rugby league again.
“He’s trained with us since Christmas and has been looking fitter and stronger by the week. He’s ready to play.”
Admission to the game is £3 for adults and £2 for concessions
Further reading