LEIGH PAUL-RIENTOUL reckons his York Acorn ARLC side now have a real chance of escaping the drop in the National Conference League premier division - if they find consistency.

Acorn won their crucial four-pointer against Lock Lane 40-24 last week, leaving the Castleford side, who are just above the relegation zone, only four points ahead.

Next up for the Blue and Golds is the visit to Thanet Road of Rochdale Mayfield on Saturday (2.30pm) and, although the Lancastrians are in the play-off positions, Paul-Rientoul is optimistic his side can put in back-to-back winning performances for only the second time this year.

“We played Leigh Miners Rangers and got beat by only two points and went to Wath Brow and lost by only two, and they’re both above Mayfield,” he said.

“We can compete with these teams, it’s a matter of having the right attitude and finding that consistency.”

He added: “The way we started last week was excellent - we were 22-4 up in the first half. We switched off for 20 minutes after half-time and Lock Lane clawed their way back, and nine times out of ten this year we would have stayed switched off, but we turned it back on again.

“It was massive really. We’ve still got Egremont to play and they’re only two points above us. If we go there and win, we’ve still then got Hull Dockers at home and they’re below us.

“We could maybe still get out of this relegation zone. It’s one of them though. We have to turn up and play like last week, starting against Mayfield.

“We lost 20-12 at their place earlier in the season but it was hammering it down and on a dry day it could have been a bigger score.

“But you never know. Our forwards won the game for us last week - we were bullying another team rather than them bullying us - and our pack began to believe in themselves. If we do that again, you never know.”

Paul-Rientoul will also be boosted by the returns of Jimmy Mountford and Matthew Woods. “I think I’ll have 20 to pick from this week, which is good,” he added.

Meanwhile, captain Tom Hill underwent his knee reconstruction this week, ruling him out of action for 12 months, and potentially curtailing his career.

The 29-year-old has been assisting Paul-Rientoul in recent weeks. Said the head coach: “Tommy is a massive loss on the pitch - he’s got so much respect and he leads from the front. But we still have him in the changing rooms and he’s still a huge influence, which is great for me.

“Will he come back playing? That’s up to him. Knowing him he probably will.”

Acorn ‘A’ go to lowly Norland Sharks in the Yorkshire Men’s League premier division.

Elsewhere, Heworth host West Hull Lions ‘A’ in YML division one looking for back-to-back wins.

York Lokomotive, struggling in division two so far this term, have a tough one, at home to Leeds Akkies, who sit pretty at the top of the table. The Lokos have the worst defence in the division, shipping on average 42 points per game, while the Akkies, a club that originally grew out of student rugby league in Leeds’ universities, have the best attack, with 412 points in their 11 matches to date.