Coach's Corner: Positives to be taken despite Brid loss

Considering the number of young lads we had in our team we did very well and up until the final 10 minutes of the match we were still competing andplaying good rugby against a top-three team.

Brid were dominant for long spells but we kept fighting to the end, a great achievement when you take into consideration that we are a developing team which has many key, senior players ruled out through injury at the moment.

Although Brid are a top-three side I can’t see them being good enough to get above third and force their way into the promotion places in Yorkshire One.

They were the better team on Saturday, they were just that bit more clinical than us, but when we played at Dukes Park earlier in the season I felt we deserved to win that game.

The main disappointment for me was that we gave them three soft tries, and that cost us.

On the injury front, Phil Watson is close to coming back from injury and I am hoping that Ant Coffey will be able to return to action for the game at Yarnbury this weekend.

These are the kind of experienced players that we need to get back in the team, Brid had more experienced decision-makers on Saturday and that made the difference in the end.

Jack Ireland is unavailable this weekend so we will have to bring someone in for him.

He is another fine example of a young player who has forced his way into the team this season and done very well.

It is great for these young lads to get into the first team and play in front of bumper crowds like Saturday.

We get bigger attendances at Silver Royd than some National League teams, so it is a good experience for the emerging players.

The Yarnbury game is the first of three away matches in a row, with Old Brodleians on January 30 followed by a trip to face Bradford Salem in a re-arranged game a week later.

Thanks for reading

Lee