Wharfedale RU
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'Zenith' Wharfedale ready for Waterloo clash
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| Sam Stitcher, on loan from Leeds, had to be substituted at Henley due to a shoulder injury. However he is available for selection against Waterloo on Saturday. |
IN-FORM Wharfedale will travel to Merseyside this Saturday to take on struggling Waterloo.
The Greens are in a confident mood following a key 29-18 win at Henley, which left them 16 points clear of the relegation zone.
Mathematically, two more wins would ensure safety for Wharfedale and considering the form they are in, they are a good bet to remain in National League Two.
The Greens have lost only two of their last six matches, one of those by three points to Stourbridge and the other by one to Cambridge.
By contrast Waterloo are not in the best form at the moment, and have lost six games in a row. Having said that, their worst defeat in that period was by just 12 points.
Wharfedale lost 24-18 to Waterloo at The Avenue in November, but Greens' coach Peter Hartley said his team has "shown a different level of ability than three months ago".
While Hartley described Wharfe-dale's crushing 39-7 victory against Blackheath two weeks ago as the club's "zenith" performance this season, he said the 24-18 loss to Waterloo was the club's "nadir" display.
Hartley said: "In terms of this season those two games have been our best and worst performances."
Waterloo are even on 46 points with Wharfedale, although their points difference is better than the Greens'. As they are even on points Hartley said Waterloo could also be sucked into the relegation battle.
Hartley said that although Waterloo didn't play particularly well against them earlier this season they had a well organised defence, which he is expecting them to have on Saturday.
"Their defence will be very strong. It's up to us to break them down."
Although they might not have performed as well as they would have liked last Saturday at Henley, the Greens will be buoyed by the fact that the victory puts a points gap between them the Hawks.
Hartley said: "It was a very good win because it meant a lot. It was not the best performance but there was a lot pressure on us."
The Greens did not come through unscathed, however, as Oliver Renton played but suffered an arm injury that will keep him out this weekend.
Sam Stitcher, on loan from Leeds Carnegie, suffered a shoulder injury and had to be substituted at half-time. However he has recovered and will be available for Saturday.
Andy Hodgson might not feature with a knee injury.
Because of injuries and three players being away on holiday (Alastair Allen, Rob Baldwin and Adam Mason), a teamsheet for the Waterloo match was not available at press time. The game kicks off at 2.30pm.
2:35pm Thursday 13th March 2008
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