NEW Earswick All Blacks ARLC followed their best performance in two years with their worst - leaving player-boss Jack Stearman calling for high-quality consistency for the rest of the campaign.

All Blacks were only edged by runaway Pennine League championship one leaders Doncaster Toll Bar a fortnight ago, despite playing the second half with only 13 fit players, and they went into last week’s match at erratic Allerton Bywater in good heart - only to slump 18-10 to continue their away-day blues.

They host lowly St Joseph’s on Saturday (2.30pm) with Stearman demanding they bounce back with a bang - and fully expecting them to maintain their 100 per cent home record.

“It was rubbish, our worst display in two years,” said Stearman of last week’s effort. “We weren’t motivated enough for it.

“We’ve won only one away game all year so it’s a bit of a hoodoo. It’s in people’s minds so we have to get out of that.

“But we’ve trained well this week with the lads buying into what we have to do for the rest of the season.”

Stearman will not give up on catching Toll Bar until it is mathematically impossible but runners- up spot is now the real aim.

His side have remained second in the table despite back-to-back defeats, but the standings, following the league’s major mid-season reorganisation - which saw some clubs depart, results wiped off and divisions merged - are currently blurred, with some teams still having played only seven matches that count, compared to All Blacks’ 12.

Those sides can yet go clear of the York outfit but will almost certainly have a fixture backlog which Stearman hopes will work in his club’s favour.

“We’ve got the opportunity to finish second if results go our way and that’s our goal,” he said.

Something will give at the top of division four as third-placed Sherburn Bears, who have a 100 per cent home record, host leaders Crofton Cougars, who have won every game to date home and away.

It promises to be the biggest test of the Bears’ promotion credentials. Selby Warriors, meanwhile, entertain Emley Moor in a mid-table encounter.