Match Preview

On Saturday, we welcome Wheatley Hills to Keighley RUFC.

Founded in 1962, Wheatley Hills (WH) is situated in the North of Doncaster and currently runs 4 Senior teams, a Junior Section and 3 Girls Teams. The 1st XV are in Yorkshire Division Two, the 2nd XV play in the South Yorkshire Merit Table, while the Wheatley Golds and Vets play occasionally.

WH was relegated from Yorkshire One at the end of 2017/18 season having previously, gained promotion to North One East back in 2009/10; sound familiar? It demonstrates the strength of the Yorkshire leagues!

Keighley currently sits at the top of the table with 23 points with five from five wins, WH are 3rd with four wins and a single loss away at Wetherby. But they have not played since that game in late September as they received a home win due to Corinthians not travelling before the catch-up weekend.

In previous seasons we have not faired well against WH, their large pack typically dominating proceedings, with two wins for WH and a solitary draw back in 2017. We will be looking to address the balance on Saturday.

Dan will be selecting his team for Saturday’s game from a full-strength squad as we are in the unusual position of having all players fit and available, and long may it continue.

No doubt we will be looking to take full advantage of WH not having played for a few weeks and use our expansive magic carpet (as the Yorkshire Forum call it), which is not a friend to a large South Yorkshire pack. I’m not sure anyone would bet against Alan getting another meat-pie this weekend; he’s definitely in a rich vein of form, but if you have watched the games so far this season, you will know he's not the only threat in the team.

Saturday’s game should be a busy one, as we host the first of our three Comedians days, and in the evening, we have the Oktoberfest, tickets are still available at the bar.

Other Yorkshire Two Fixtures

The Stags are currently looking for a fixture, the 3rds are away at Baildon with an earlier KO of 1:00pm in support of their Cancer Fundraising day.