YORK Acorn ARLC are top-three material – and have themselves to blame that they are not there right now.

That's the view of head coach Leigh Paul-Rientoul whose team currently sit sixth in the Kingstone Press National Conference League division one with five wins from nine games.

Up until a 40-34 defeat to Leigh Miners Rangers at Thanet Road three weeks ago, the record was split down the lines of win at home, lose away.

On Acorn's form this term, Paul-Rientoul said: “Some games we’ve been beaten where we’ve just played really poorly. If we’d played to our potential, we could be in the top three but we’ve let it slip ourselves.

“We’ve been working on a lot of things like winning the ruck and the collision. We’ve been defending well but we roll away too quickly and let the other teams get on the front foot.

“It’s just about the finer details and putting them into practice.”

As if to restore the balance following the Rangers loss, Acorn then took their first two points of the season on the road – in the process, ending a run of three consecutive defeats – with their 28-10 win at Ince Rose Bridge last time out.

This Saturday, Acorn take their rejuvenated form to face Milford Marlins for the first time since last year’s promotion bid was ended in Leeds in a fiery play-off semi-final clash.

Back-to-back tries from Antony Chilton and Jack Stewart had given Acorn an 18-8 advantage with 15 minutes to play, but Marlins rallied late and crossed three times in quick succession en route to a 25-18 win.

Paul-Rientoul, however, appears not to want to focus on bygones and would rather look to righting his team’s own performances in a tough fixture.

On whether his side will be looking to settle old scores, Paul-Rientoul said: “There is a bit of that. But it’s always difficult at Marlins. They’re doing well and it’s going to be a big challenge for us.

“We’re starting to get back to winning ways with that game at Ince Rose. It’s going to be a big game.

“They play on a 4G pitch, which a couple of teams in our league play on, but we’re not used to it. The ball runs quicker so infield kicking is different.

“But training’s been going alright and hopefully we’ll be able to get a strong side out."

Marlins presently sit third, three points above Acorn, and come into the game off the back of three straight wins.

The most recent, a 28-18 home triumph over Skirlaugh, featured cameos from six of eight Ukrainian internationals who came to Yorkshire at the end of April.

Paul-Rientoul - who took the York & District representative team on tour to Ukraine last year - is also looking forward to seeing them in action, with the octet having impressed for Marlins’ Alliance League team. The Skirlaugh game, however, was their first appearance in the NCL.

“It will be nice to catch up with the Ukrainian international players to see how they’re adjusting," he added.

Among the Eastern Europeans who featured were Oleksandr Shcherbyna, Mykhailo Troian and Yevheni Trusov, all of whom have touched down in the Alliance League.

Veteran Tom Hill, who was sent off late on in last year's play-off semi, comes back into contention after missing the Ince Rose Bridge game, but Matt Woods will miss out.