Siddal (Away)
Leigh Miners travel over the Pennines to Halifax on Saturday to take on Siddal in Round 16 of the NCL Kingstone Press Cider Premier Division, Kick off 2-30pm at Chevinedge .
Miners go into this clash against Siddal on the back of a very embarrassing 64-4 away defeat at Wath Brow Hornets last weekend, being blitzed by a rampant Hornets outfit who where at their best with everything they did seemed to do turning to gold. The players being gutted at full time after such a poor showing but they are determined not to let one horror performance have an effect on them, especially with some big games coming up over the next few weeks.
This week again promises to be equally as tough if not tougher against arguably the most consistent side in the NCL over the past decade. With Miners knowing they will have to be at their very best to have any chance of bouncing back from last week and picking up their first win at Chevinedge in nearly ten years.
Looking back at last week’s game at Wath Brow, centre come half back Adam Thomason said “It was a poor performance, one of the worst I’ve been involved in at the club.”
“They were clinical throughout the game and we weren’t. The less said about last week, the better!”
On this week’s trip to Siddal, Thomason added “We need to bounce back from last weeks disappointment and put in a good performance this weekend.”
“It won’t be easy as Siddal is a tough place to go and a ground we haven’t had much joy on in recent years but hopefully we can go into the game with more enthusiasm than last week and put some of the wrongs right!”
Coaches Allan Coleman and Paul Whitworth make six changes from last weekend with Martln Gray, Danny Jones, Mike O’Boyle, Connor Ratcliffe, Charles Tyson and Jonny Youds coming into the side for Todd Appleby, Harry Gagen, Joe Lorimer, Dave Rowlands, Sam Shepard and Scott Travis.
On last week’s game at Wath Brow, Coach Allan Coleman said “It was just a bad day for us, we planned to get there early but was stuck in traffic so the journey took us nearly four hours.”
“They started very well and i think we just couldnt stop them when they had the ball, they won every ruck.”
“I felt for the lads who came in, they tried but Wath Brow had a perfect day at the office.”
“We need to put last week behind us now though and focus on Siddal.”
Looking ahead to Saturday’s trip to Siddal, Coleman added “We should hopefully have a few more players available this week.”
“Siddal are a big physical side who play tough, so are contact has to be a lot better.”
“Shaun Garrod has hit form and he’s a very good player who can change any game.”
“We need to complete very high so we can starve them of the ball and the lads are out to prove last week was a one off, as they are playing for their jerseys with some big games coming up over the next few weeks.”
Siddal are currently in third position going into this weekends game, beating Hull Dockers 38-14 last weekend to move them within two points of leaders Rochdale Mayfield and two points clear of Miners who sit in fifth.
When the two teams met in Round 9 back in May, Miners produced a very strong second half performance to win 28-18. Brad Hargreaves scoring a second half hat-trick to send Miners on their way victory after trailing 14-4 at the break.
Leigh Miners second team are at home on Saturday against Rochdale Mayfield in the league, Kick off 2-30pm at Twist Lane.
The u18s are away on Sunday against Crosfields in the league.
Leigh Miners Ladies are away at Brighouse Rangers on Sunday in the league.
