By Liam Hammond
Huddersfield will be aiming to right the wrongs of last weeks close defeat to League 2 North side Preston Grasshoppers as they tackle further League 2 North opposition this coming weekend. Huddersfield travel to Dudley Kingswinford, after narrowly losing to Preston 26 -21 in their first friendly of the year.
Although the match resulted in defeat for Huddersfield, the team produced a high level of performance and First Team Manager Lee Paxman has demanded more of the same from his new look squad:
“We’ve had four good sessions since the last game and we are confident that if we get the performance right the result will follow.”
The match will be an opportunity for more new faces to stake a claim for first team honours when the league campaign begins, with new signing Elliot Hodgson making his first start for the club at fullback. This weekend will also see the return of long term absentee Howard Hanks on the wing, with regular club captain Nick Sharpe also returning to the starting line-up.
With Dudley also tasting defeat last week at the hands of Stockport RUFC Paxman has readied his squad for an expected backlash:
“Dudley played and lost last week and will be hankering for a result before the season starts. We know we played well but we are by no means underestimating the task in hand”.
The match will kick-off at 3:45 pm at Dudley’s Swindon Road ground. The Huddersfield Falcons will also travel to take on their Dudley counterparts, with the fixture scheduled for a 2pm kick-off.
Huddersfield First XV vs Dudley:
1. Laurence Sanderson, 2. Ben Morrill, 3. Alex Battye, 4. Nick Rhodes, 5. Gavin Rhodes, 6. Gareth Lewis, 7. Ben Hoyle, 8. Nick Sharpe (C), 9. Joel Hinchliffe, 10. Tom Hodson, 11. Ben Mitchell, 12. Tom Owen, 13. Mike Clarke, 14. Howard Hanks, 15. Elliot Hodgson, 16. Antony Stringwell, 17. George Hinchliff
Huddersfield Falcons XV vs Dudley:
1. Joe Shields, 2. Taras Santar, 3. Edward Birkhead, 4. James Bodsworth, 5. Gareth Lewis , 6. Ross Thornton, 7. Robert Sykes, 8. Henry Ward, 9. William Brian, 10. Tom Andrews, 11. Alex Brook, 12. Thomas Van Rooyen, 13. Danny Chappell, 14. Adam Sutcliffe, 15. Giles Heatherington,16. Chris Duffy, 17. Feargus Haston, 18. Jon Coles , 19. Ross Baggs,20. Paul Armitage, 21. Robbie Wilson,22. Luke Booth , 23. Gilly , 24. Dan Bozz , 25. Max McKay, 26. Ryan Smith, 27. Joshua Gundry
