Mayfield preview

Mayfield face local rivals Saddleworth Rangers this afternoon in the National Conference Group C game.

Having disposed of Saddleworth easily early on in the season Butterworth will be hoping his sides recent poor results will not effect his teams performance today.

“The first half of last week’s game at Hunslet saw us play some very good rugby and basic errors allowed the Leeds side back in the game and saw them take the two points from us,” he said.

“We had the best players on display by far and its hard to pinpoint where we went wrong but we have to try and learn from our mistakes and concentrate on the positives.

“We missed some important tackles at crucial stages of the game and it cost us dearly.

“We’ve worked on things in training this week and the sessions have gone well so hopefully we can turn it round this afternoon.

“We picked up a couple of injuries at Hunslet, namely Higgs and Namulnatua so we will be waiting to see their response to treatment before naming the side, also players are returning after being away for various reasons last week. We will still be without the suspended Simon Moore, which is a blow as his defence has been superb this season.”

The Alliance team is at home again this week, again, against Oldham opposition, as St Anne’s make the short journey to the Mayfield Sports Centre.

Mayfield are riding high at the minute with only one defeat out of their four outings.

Coach Leon Ashworth is over the moon with the way his side has coped this season.

“We have come up against some quality opposition and we have outplayed them.

“There is no reason we can’t do the same against Saints today, we have drafted in a lot of young lads and they are responding well in training, we have a great team spirit going at the club, which when added to the way we are playing ruby league makes an almost unbeatable combination.

“A lot of these lads will get first team recognition before the end of the season which gives them something to aim towards and that is paying dividends for us on the field.”

Mayfield’s academy side have yet to have their opponents confirmed but secretary Paul Scanlon Wells is pulling out all the stops in an attempt to secure a game. The young outfit have been put through their paces by Joe Harte over the last couple of weeks and he is impressed by what he has seen so far.

“There are some good young lads in the side with players like the Widdup brothers, and Luke Hartley amongst those making an impression. Doug Carre, Luke Senior, Ryan Drennan and Sean Hill have also shone in the opening fixtures. These lads just need regular games to build their confidence and that will see this team blossom into a force to be reckoned with.”

Fixtures:
NCL, Saddleworth v Mayfield. Kick off 2.30pm
Alliance. Mayfield v St Anne’s. Kick off 2.30pm
Academy, TBC