Rangers keen to cut out mistakes

KEIL LANCASHIRE: In fine form for St Anne’s.

SADDLEWORTH Rangers have gone back to basics as they look to halt a run of two successive defeats in division one of the National Conference League tomorrow.

Keith Brennan’s outfit face a tough trip to second-in-the-table Bradford Dudley Hill, who were involved in a 32-32 thriller at Stanningley six days ago.

Rangers have slipped to mid-table, but the coach reckons it won’t take much for results to go in their favour again.

“We’ve been working on the basic stuff in training,” said Brennan. “Our defence has been very good, but only because we’ve been unable to retain control of the ball.

“Three individual errors cost us three tries against Widnes St Maries, it’s as simple as that.

“Confidence is still high and we know we have the ability. If we can cut out the mistakes, we won’t be far away.”

Adam Walker is doubtful because of an ankle injury, but Liam Coates will be absent for another six to eight weeks as he recovers from a broken jaw.




OLDHAM St Anne’s are hoping to extend their unbeaten run to four matches against visitors West Bowling.

Knee injury victim Jason Best is definitely ruled out for the division one clash at Higginshaw Road, but Chris Carter, Dave Harris and Ben Myers are back, while Alex Ayres (knee) is rated at 50–50.

Saints’ run of two wins and a draw has lifted them to fifth position, while tomorrow’s opponents are fourth bottom.

A feature of their recent ascent has been the red-hot form of Keil Lancashire.

He has kicked 15 goals in the last three games, and coach Mick Cashin said: “Keil is a very gifted player and he gets us out of trouble sometimes.

“He had a penalty attempt from the half-way line last weekend which just missed.

“We wouldn’t normally have gone for goal from that position, but Keil is playing with such confidence at the moment.”

Looking forward to the game itself, Cashin said: “Although West Bowling are near the bottom, they haven’t conceded many points and have beaten Bradford Dudley Hill who I rate as one of the best sides in the division.”


BUOYED by their display against Myton Warriors, Waterhead assistant coach Terry Smith has his sights firmly set on victory at Heworth in division two.

The Peach Road outfit went down 27-10 at home to Warriors, but they showed plenty of improvement from their drubbing at East Leeds a week earlier to go into tomorrow’s showdown with confidence.

“We defended like Trojans,” said Smith, who has late fitness checks on Paddy Slicker (shoulder), John Mitchell (shoulder) and Chris Hepworth (knee).

“I think they expected us to roll over after we lost so heavily at East Leeds, but we showed a lot of determination, especially in the first half when we were camped on our own line.

“I’m sure we can be competitive in this division, but we need to stay clear of injuries as we’ve only got a small squad.”

Mark Whyatt (ankle ligaments) and Paul Bennett (shoulder) are definitely out, but Nick Johnson should return.