YORK RI RUFC club chairman Kevin Hollinrake believes the Railwaymen are on the verge of an exciting 'new era' following the capture of Chris Leathley.

RI have been on the hunt for a new coach following the decision by Ian Hassall to step down at the end of the season, with initial target Peter Curtis going to rivals York and then Paul Matthews to the Leeds Tykes Academy set-up.

However, the club's Yorkshire Three clash against Castleford will mark the end of the long search, with Leathley taking over the role.

And having guided Morley from the regional leagues to the national set-up during a long distinguished spell at Scatcherd Lane as coach and then director of rugby, the Railwaymen are hoping Leathley brings across his winning formula.

Hollinrake told the Evening Press: "We are hoping Chris will bring back the success to the club.

"Chris was at Morley for a lot of years, first as coach and then as director of rugby, but he retired about a year ago because he missed the hands-on role. He had taken them from the regional leagues into the nationals.

"But he has had time away and recharged his batteries and is looking forward to a new challenge.

"Our ambitions don't quite match those of Morley then, but we would like, and think we should, be a couple of leagues higher.

"Chris will offer us a fresh outlook to the club and I think the players will look up and respect what he has done in the past. This is a new era for the club."

The New Lane outfit plumped for the services of Leathley, who met his new club-mates at training last night, having suddenly had the choice of three applicants for the coaching role, but first the officials at the club sought the advice of one of their favourite sons, Otley coach Peter Clegg.

"We had three good applicants from a strange position where we didn't have a coach," added Leathley. "We spoke to Peter Clegg at Otley, who knew Chris and recommended him to us."

Leathley will know actually what challenge awaits him after seeing his side in action for the first time tomorrow, when RI take on Castleford in a must-win clash.

Cas' and RI lie dangerously close to the drop zone in the table, both on six points and in need to climb clear.

York have opted to ring the changes to their line-up for the visit of Pontefract as they look to get the Yorkshire One title challenge back on course.

Still stinging from their disappointing 13-8 defeat at the hands of Selby, director Andy Gair makes four changes to the starting XV and one positional change.

Having appeared in the centres and at fly-half already this season, Gary Cassidy swaps the No10 shirt for his more accustomed role at scrum-half. Nick Kay is handed the fly-half duties, while in the forwards Stu Davies is promoted from the bench to the back-row.

There is a double change in the front row, which suffered the ignominy of losing three balls against the head against Selby, with Simon Humphries and Andy Smith coming in to prop.

York will be anxious for maximum points to cement second place behind Bridlington.

Despite their win over York, Selby make four changes to their side for their Yorkshire One trip to Sheffield Tigers.

The Sandhill Laners, who have both their previous league meetings with the Tigers, welcome back Micky Parsonage to the wing after the former York man missed the clash against his former club, while Tony Godfrey replaces Andy Bennett in the centres.

In the pack, prop Ian Copperwheat and flanker Duncan Phillips are promoted from the bench to start.

In the National League second division, Harrogate entertain Sedgley Park as they look to bounce back from their shock defeat against Stourbridge.

Don't miss Tony Curtis' rugby union column, Scrumdown in tomorrow's Evening Press

Updated: 13:28 Friday, December 06, 2002