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Leigh Miners entertain East Leeds on Saturday in Round 11 of the NCL Kingstone Press Cider Premier Division, Kick off 2-30pm at Twist Lane.
Miners go into Saturday’s game on the back of their third defeat of the season away at Hull Dockers last weekend, the performance being by far the worst of the season against a side who played over fifty minutes with 12 men, Miners dropping out of the top six with this loss into seventh but are only three points off top spot with two two games in hand of all the teams above them.
The players know their completion rate will have to be very high on Saturday and they will need to be a lot smarter and show more respect when in possession of the football than they was in Hull last week. Whilst defensively they will need to be solid in the middle if they are to keep their unbeaten home run going and pick up the two points against a big physical East Leeds outfit.
Coaches Allan Coleman & Paul Whitworth will have to make at least one change from the team that played at Hull Dockers, Danny Jones missing his first league match of the year due to illness. Coming back into contention for a place in the side are Matt Astley, Tony Doyle, Gary Gittins, Martin Gray, Brad Hargreaves, Mark Nicholson and Charles Tyson.
On last weeks defeat at Hull Dockers, joint coach Paul Whitworth said “We agreed after the game it was our worst performance of the season and we was all collectively disappointed”
“Dockers are sitting at the top of the league and deserved their win. They were unlucky with their sending off and it seemed to galvanise them.”
“Our effort was high but with a first half completion of just 23% we were well and truly below our usual standards.”
“The last couple of games have really tested our resources and the mass changes do impact on your ability to perform consistently as a unit.”
“We will learn some good lessons from the defeat and the learning will not be all negative. We still created the opportunity to get the game back in the second half which was a measure of the team.”
And looking ahead to East Leeds, Whitworth added “It will be good to get back to Twist Lane and it will be good to get a few back into contention for selection and this makes a difference in getting the best out of the side.”
“The disappointment of last week has focused us this week and we’ve highlighted a couple of areas to improve on. East Leeds are a big side, so we will need to be really physical to match them in the middle.”
“We need to be comfortable in managing the ruck area, show some resilience when needed and then play how we know we can when we get the ball.”
East Leeds travel to Leigh on the back of their first home defeat of the season last weekend against Wath Brow Hornets, going down 24-8 against a Brow side who have come into form in recent weeks. That defeat dropping Easts down to sixth in the table on 11 points from their ten games played this season.
Leigh Miners 2nd team are at home on Saturday against Rochdale Mayfield in the quarter final of the NWML Trophy, Kick off 2-30pm at Manchester Road (Junior Section).
The u18s are at home on Sunday against Rochdale Mayfield in the League, Kick off 12pm at Twist Lane.
Leigh Miners Ladies are at home on Sunday in the league against Wigan St Pats, Kick off 2-30pm at Twist Lane.
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