Huddersfield ‘under no illusions’ of Tynedale challenge says Gareth Lewis
Huddersfield welcome Tynedale to Lockwood Park looking to continue their 100% winning record at home in 2020.
After a testing opening half of the season the ground has become the fortress we associated with Field in their assault on the upper reaches of National II North last season, an upturn in form which this year has seen them climb 6 points clear of the relegation zone.
Last week’s 27-10 triumph against Sheffield Tigers epitomised all the qualities Field have been showing recently, one being a vastly improved defensive output which has seen only 35 points conceded in their last 3 fixtures.
Try bonus points in 4 of the 6 fixtures since Christmas has also played its part in allowing Field to breathe a little easier with a small gap now between themselves and the bottom three.
However, the season still has a long way to go and they will want to continue extending that margin as the lower half of the table becomes ever tighter.
This weekends visitors Tynedale lost out 26-34 to Wharfedale last time out, but back to back wins in their two previous fixtures against bottom sides Scunthorpe and Preston Grasshoppers have seen them reside in mid table on a relatively safe tally of 55 points.
A bonus point victory for Field could see them move level on points with their Corbridge opponents and move as high as 7th if results elsewhere go in their favour.
Payback is also somewhat in the air with Tynedale winning the reverse fixture 33-18, so Field have the extra motivation of preventing their counterparts from doing the double.
Head Coach Gareth Lewis commented: “When we faced each other in the autumn the were in a rich vein of form and blew us away in the first half, but we rallied well in the second to hold our heads high, We are under no illusions of the challenge we face today.”
“4 victories in 6 matches since the turn of the year has enabled us to gradually climb the league table in recent weeks.”
“However, the competitive nature of National II North means we still have plenty of work to do in the final third of the season beginning with a very tough encounter Saturday afternoon.”
Field can really begin to start looking up rather than down with a win this weekend, whereas Tynedale will want the points to ensure they’re not snared into a late season relegation dogfight.
It should help to provide the foundations for a terrific game of rugby where Field, come the referees final whistle, will want to have continued their 100% home record in 2020.
Lineup
15 Tom Hodson
14 Harris Morris
13 Elliott Munnelly
12 Will Milner
11 Lewis Workman
10 Charles Morgan
9 Jack Maplesden
1 Alex Battye
2 Liam Stapely
3 Josh Crickmay
4 Guy Borrowdale
5 Nick Sharpe
6 Liam Parfitt
7 Lewis Bradley
8 Dickie Piper (c)
Replacements
16 Reuben Pollard
17 Fran Entressengle
18 Pat Power
19 Joel Hinchcliffe
20 Cail Cookland
