February 20, 2008

Both Rotherham Titans Head Coach Craig West and his opposite number at Plymouth Albion Graham Dawe are looking for their players to deliver a performance that lives up to their abilities when they meet at Clifton Lane on Saturday in the Quarter-Final of the EDF Energy National Trophy.

Both sides go into the game on the back of a mediocre set of results and both are hoping that the knockout game will kick-start their season after a disappointing set of results.

Rotherham have added Fijian international centre Vereneki Goneva to their squad after negotiating a loan arrangement to the end of the season, but overall, the scene is set for the Rotherham players to stand up and be counted following a below-par performance and a 13-11 home defeat by Coventry last Saturday.

Rotherham had not been beaten for a decade by the Midlanders and the general quality of the display left West an angry man.

"I bit my lip after the game because we simply under-performed," he said. "After that level of performance I have to consider changes in any position that we have alternatives. Some players in the squad who have not had much match time at senior level will get a chance. I am not normally cast in the role of ‘Mr Angry’, but last weekend I was angry and frustrated by the way we played.

"Plymouth are in a similar position to ourselves, but we are putting all our efforts into Saturday’s game. Plymouth are a strong National One team, but I’m hoping that our performance will improve and we’ll be giving it a go. I’ve been disappointed for a number of weeks to be honest. We are under-achieving as a group of individuals at the moment, so we’ve got to keep working hard, we’ve got to make progress and we’ve got to fight in every game we play. We’ve got some good players here and we’ve got to keep going. We’ve got to get the last game out of our system and give it a go."

While last weekend’s game did nothing to improve confidence ahead of Saturday’s Cup tie, at least West will find himself confronting a team with plenty of problems of their own.

Plymouth Head Coach Graham Dawe is hoping the game will give Albion the spark they need to re-ignite their season.

Though they have a 15-0 home win over Rotherham in November to their credit, the Devon side have neither won a league game this year nor a game on the road since November.

But they have found better form in the Trophy, beating Henley Hawks and Pertemps Bees, Dawe believes that a win in Yorkshire could get Albion back on track.

"There’s no doubt this is going to be a very tough fixture and I wouldn’t actually tag either team as favourites, but we are going to Rotherham intent on getting a win and finding our spark again." he said. "We are putting a lot of effort into getting back on track and getting a win from this game and if we can do that then I think it could be onwards and upwards this season.

"We have had some very tough fixtures lately, playing a lot of sides that are either vying for promotion or survival and that has taken its toll on us. Rotherham too are a strong side and even stronger at home. It is always tough playing there with their vocal crowd.

"They play a very fast game though and that suits us. Hopefully we can turn them over and dominate like we did in our game against them previously. It’s certainly another tough challenge, but we are feeling positive."

Rotherham are not the only South Yorkshire club who will be just two victories from an outing at Twickenham when they return to EDF Energy knockout action on Saturday.

In the last eight of the EDF Energy Senior Vase, Wheatley Hills from Doncaster will have home advantage against Spalding and on the evidence of the form-book, they will need to be on top form to deny their Lincolnshire visitors.

The evidence? In the previous round, Spalding beat Old Brodleians 15-12 at home thanks to the place-kicking on Rhys Gosling and since the Halifax side are unbeaten at the top of Yorkshire Division Two, in which Wheatley Hills are fifth, the tie seems nicely poised.

Horden are flying the flag for the North East in this season’s knockout programme and having beaten Blackburn 26-22 in front of over 250 followers in the previous round, they will be expecting a massive turnout for Saturday’s visit of Sutton Coldfield.

Home supporters at the Welfare Park will certainly be hoping to escape the tension of the previous round when they saw the Lancashire side claw their way back from a 21-0 deficit to be within a score during a very tense finale.

Hopes of a South Yorkshire double at Twickenham on May 10 are still alive as Doncaster Phoenix visit West Leeds on Saturday in the Quarter-final of the EDF Energy Junior Vase. Phoenix beat their Yorkshire Three rivals 22-7 at home earlier in the season, but now only a point separates them in mid-table, so another keen contest seems assured.

Another Yorkshire Three side, Castleford, will be hoping to keep their hopes for a double alive when they visit Wisbech. The progressive West Yorkshire club are currently second in Yorkshire Three on the same number of points as leaders Moortown, so the mood in the camp will be very buoyant as they visit Cambridgeshire.

EDF Energy National Trophy Quarter-Finals: Exeter v Esher, Rotherham v Plymouth Albion, Bedford v Northampton Saints, Nottingham v Launceston.

EDF Energy Senior Vase, Quarter-Finals: North/Midlands - Horden v Sutton Coldfield, Wheatley Hills v Spalding.

EDF Energy Junior Vase, Quarter-Finals: North/Midlands - West Leeds v Doncaster Phoenix, Wisbech v Castleford.