HEWORTH ARLC will need to improve on their game management at Oulton Raiders on Saturday if they are to come away with the two points, believes head coach Scott Rhodes.

The Villagers sit second in Yorkshire Men’s League division one, having already equalled last season’s wins total with a 30-6 victory over local rivals York Acorn a fortnight ago.

But Rhodes reckons the margin could have been even greater had they made better decisions when attacking.

This weekend sees the Black and Whites travel to fifth-placed Oulton Raiders, whose last game was also against Acorn, although they came away with a less favourable 34-20 defeat.

Rhodes said of the Acorn game: “It was an important win for us. We won the bragging rights. To me, it’s just another game of rugby league, although there was added pressure for the players.

“For periods we played well and we contained their big fellas going forward but, with the ball, we weren’t so happy. We made too many unforced errors and let Acorn back into the arm wrestle.

“We didn’t manage the game well – we were in a position early on to put them under the cosh and we could have scored a lot more points but we made too many unforced errors, trying one pass too many or an offload, and squandered chances.

“Defensively, we were brilliant, but we need to be better with the ball.”

Despite their impressive start to the season – suffering just one defeat from seven and enjoying far and away the best points difference in the division – Rhodes insists thoughts of promotion have not crossed their minds yet.

He said: “I know how quickly things can change. I know we’ll always have quality with players but we’ve got a busy schedule coming up, some players are away and some have knocks, so we’re just taking each game as it comes.

“Playing with the confidence we have at the moment, we know there’s wins there. We’re doing the right stuff on the training ground and the players are enjoying it, which is the most important thing in amateur rugby league.

“This week will be a tough proposition. We’re expecting a tough game but we’ll see where it takes us.

“It’s always a tough game – rugby league’s a tough game and anything can happen, but if we can assemble our game plan and play with energy, we’ll come away with two points.

“If we don’t and we make too many errors, we won’t. We know what we need to do.”

York Acorn ‘A’ travel to eighth-placed Skirlaugh Bulls on Saturday hoping to build on their first win of term last week. Skirlaugh have also struggled this campaign, with their second win of two coming just under a month ago at Cutsyke Raiders.

In division three, York Lokomotive travel to Scarborough Pirates looking to avenge their 28-26 defeat in the North Yorkshire Invitation Cup. Lokos last featured in a 34-24 defeat to Leeds Akkies at the start of June while Pirates lost 32-22 at home to Kippax Welfare.

There are no fixtures this weekend for New Earswick All Blacks in the premier division, nor for York Acorn up in the National Conference League division one.