WHILE he is hoping that some of the currently injured cavalry come over the hill before Christmas, Wharfedale coach Tom McGee knows that they must cut out the unforced errors if they are to escape relegation from National League One.

They might have played with adventure in the first half, after which they only trailed 22-12, but the second-half statistics are stark from the Greens' 55-12 defeat at second-placed Richmond last Saturday.

McGee said: "We made 18 unforced errors in our own half in the second half compared to their three, and Richmond scored three early tries and it was game over.

"You are not going to win any game of rugby if you make 18 unforced errors – whether that be overthrown line-outs, not catching the ball or whatever – and Richmond were able to score those tries without even trying. It is killing us."

However, McGee also knows that Wharfedale's season will not be defined by how they fare against the top two (they also lost 45-0 at home to Hartpury College two weekends ago) but by how they perform against the teams in and around them in the table.

McGee added: "We played with some real pace and tempo in the first half, and Richmond were given a right telling off at half-time, but we have also been hampered by our injury list, which is actually worse than I thought it was.

"We were without Ian Larkin, who has been out for six weeks, Adam Howard, Jim Mason, Richard Rhodes, Antony Oxley, Tom Burridge and Alistair Allen, and that is without even mentioning Rob Baldwin, James Tyson, Dan Solomi, Phil Woodhead and James Doherty.

"There is a pretty good forward line in there, most of whom would not only be in the squad but starting."

Having faced the top two, Wharfedale, who are also without Oliver Cicognini, meet Plymouth Albion (Saturday) and Fylde (December 19) at The Avenue before Christmas and travel to Hull Ionians in between.

The Greens are second from bottom (15th) on 14 points and, with Albion in eighth, Ionians in 10th and Fylde in ninth, it seems a decent opportunity to gain some league points, with McGee adding: "Plymouth is a huge game on Saturday."