West Norfolk take on leaders as they look to preserve London & SE Division status

It doesn’t get any easier for injury-hit West Norfolk as they look to preserve their London & SE Division status this season.

After pushing second-placed Holt every step of the way at Gatehouse Lane last weekend, West Norfolk travel to league leaders Saffron Walden tomorrow.

Head coach Darren Clarke is confident his side can pull away from the bottom reaches of the league standings.

Clarke said: “Despite starting the new year with two defeats we have picked up four bonus points which is the equivalent of a win.

“Injuries continue to hurt us and this Saturday will again see a much changed side against unbeaten Saffron Walden.”

“On the positive side our second team recorded their first victory last Saturday and the players in that squad are improving on a weekly basis.

“Many have played first team already this season and they are fully committed. After this week we will have five home games and two away so we are confident that if we can get our full squad available we can pull away from the bottom of the table.”

Despite being beaten 31-24 on home soil there were plenty of positives for Clarke to take away from the Holt defeat.

“It was always going to be a tough game against the second-placed team in the league,” he said.

“We had very little go our way in the first half, losing the experience of Revell and skipper Rust to injury.

“A few decisions and the bounce of the ball also seemed to go against us and Holt showed their skill to score four tries in the first half.

“We changed the game plan for the second half, taking a more direct approach and it was probably our best 40 minutes of the season.

“We dominated possession and territory with every player giving their all. Despite the defeat we certainly deserved the two bonus points that we gained.”