FED-UP New Earswick All Blacks ARLC simply cannot wait to get back into action.

Jack Stearman's men have been without a game in the Pennine League championship since November 28, with last weekend's match against Allerton Bywater the latest to be called off - this time because their opponents withdrew from the league.

With other games postponed due to bad weather and rivals' cup commitments, and with the then injury-hit All Blacks having to forfeit one match in the autumn, it means they have played only eight fixtures over 14 weekends when matches were supposed to take place.

This Saturday they go to Brotherton (2pm).

Said Stearman: "What is it, seven weeks since we last played? That's not great is it.

"I appreciate a lot of it has been down to the weather but it has been frustrating.

"The one silver lining is it has given a few of our injured players extra time to get back and we're now looking stronger."

All Blacks lie third bottom but Stearman insists his side will soon climb the table, starting with victory over a Brotherton side who are second bottom.

Jamie Norris, Tommy Hields and Adam Kirkby are among the players returning, along with Jack Hodgson, who is back for the first time this season after a torn hamstring.

Stearman added: "Brotherton is the nearest we've got to a derby. We beat them earlier in the season even though we didn't play all that well. We didn't play to our full capacity at all before Christmas but we're looking to start afresh and kick on for the rest of the season."

Meanwhile, Sherburn Bears face a stern test on Saturday as they look to keep their 100 per cent record intact - but they should travel with confidence.

The Bears visit second-placed East Leeds in a Pennine League division four east four-pointer knowing victory would see them leapfrog their Yorkshire rivals.

But they go into it on the back of a 44-10 thrashing of fourth-placed Swillington Storm at Eversley Park which underlined their promotion credentials.

The game started at lightning pace with both sides showing good touches early on. The Bears broke the deadlock on through young hooker Connor Jordan’s great individual try and conversion but Swillington struck back quickly as centre Johnny Brummiti showed great strength to get across the line.

The Bears made it 12-4 as Jordan scampered over for a second try, again adding the extras.

Swillington winger Paul Barber pounced on a misplaced crossfield kick to run 95 metres for a counter-attack try with the conversion added by half-back Craig Wallis to keep the Storm in the match.

However, the hosts lifted the pace, with Jaffa Johnson impressive when going in at hooker, and tries followed for Lewis Booth, sent in by man-of-the-match brother Sam, loose-forward Ronnie Roebuck and centre Jordan Richards for a 24-10 half-time lead.

The good intensity continued on the resumption and Ben Pugh, Rob Culshaw, having his best game to date at scrum-half, Dan Bottomley and Richards all notched further scores to complete a dominant display.

Conversions were added by Richards and Culshaw, though the second half was marred by a 26-man melee that ended with a player from each side being sin-binned.

Selby Warriors, given a walkover by West Craven Warriors last weekend to help keep them in the division two promotion race, have no game scheduled this Saturday.