Hopper welcome an Otley side on a 10 game winning streak to Lightfoot Green this Saturday.
The Yorkshire side sit 3rd in National 2 North having won 13 of their 16 games meanwhile Hoppers sit 12th on 23 points having picked up 2 bonus points at Fylde on Saturday.
Coach Dan Irwin was very pleased with the performance last time out at Fylde commenting “Last weekend, away at Fylde, we fought a hell of a battle. At 29-29 with only a minute left on the clock, we gave a penalty away which Fylde converted to take the win. Although we came away with a losing bonus point, and another point for scoring 4 tries, we were disappointed that we didn’t come away from the Woodlands with a draw, or even with a win. We certainly had chances to win the game. It was a real 20-man effort the whole squad fought so hard to get the result. The character, team spirit and resilience that we showed to stay in the fight, and to push Fylde all the way is testament to the environment and culture that the players and coaches have created here at Hoppers.
There are no easy games in this league. A quick glance at recent results shows that on any given Saturday, any team is capable of beating anybody else. Today we welcome Otley, a team in outstanding form this season who are currently sitting third in the table. Otley won promotion last season, along with ourselves and have fared much better, winning 13 of their 16 games so far this season. If we can match the intensity, work rate and discipline we showed last week, we know we can get the result. Otley won our match earlier in the season, 28-15 at theirs. We believe in ourselves and the players are once again keen to rip in against Otley today!”
Milestones
The game against Otley will be our 800th League game. Of the 799 we have won 405, lost 366 and drawn 28.
Team News
1) Oga Mabaya
2) Oli Trippier
3) Tom Guest
4) Luke Procter
5) Declan Norrington
6) Will Riley
7) Josh Longson
8) Scott Richardson
9) Harrison Moulding (C)
10) Will Hunt
11) Tyler Spence
12) Ed Keohane
13) Harry Swarbrick
14) Will Clapham
15) Ben Pearson
16) George Orry
17) Ewan Naylor
18) Ben Dorrington
19) Jake Squirrell
20) Tom Lees
