SIMON SMITH: Old Brods win keeps us in the hunt

We made a big point in the changing rooms that we had to embrace the difficult conditions if we were to leave with a positive result, and the players all bought into this.

We went to Bradford in similarly testing conditions and came away with a draw from a game we should be winning, so we needed to approach this game in a better manner.

If you watered our pitch for two weeks then you’d still struggle to have a playing surface as heavy as the one we played on on Saturday, and that really doesn’t suit us.

We have a lot of really pacy players and playing on pitches like that nullifies a lot of our qualities.

Having said that, if you are going to get promoted from Yorkshire One, you have to be able to go to places like Old Brods and in conditions like we had on Saturday, and win.

Our forward pack were outstanding.

They really fronted up, won their battles, and therefore laid a platform for us to create attacking opportunities.

Phil Watson really impressed me with his physicality and drive, and to get two tries was also a great effort.

Ben Martin was yet again brilliant on Saturday, he’s having an excellent season as are the whole of the back row and I expect that to continue.

We now go into two home games in succession against North Ribblesdale and Old Rishworthians.

One thing is certain, there are no easy games in Yorkshire One, and these next two games certainly won’t be.

North Ribblesdale have won two out of their last three games to pull clear of the relegation area.

We will therefore need to turn up and perform to our best to get two more wins and make sure we stay in the hunt for promotion.

I believe we’ll be selecting from a full compliment, apart from Tom Harrison, who is getting close to a return but I think would benefit from another week or so of recovery before coming back in for what is likely to be a hugely important run-in.