Hooker role a problem but York Acorn ARLC eye Wigan win

10:07am Thursday 18th March 2010

By Peter Martini

YORK Acorn ARLC face a dilemma in the key hooking role as they head into another game which could define their season.

Alfie Hill’s men go to Wigan St Jude’s, who lie in the drop zone but could plausibly climb into the play-offs should they win their games in hand.

St Jude’s situation reflects the tightness of the National Conference premier division, as does that of Acorn. If they win on Saturday they could be one point off the play-offs and kill fears of relegation, but if they lose they could be left looking over their shoulder again.

Hill reckons both teams will have targeted this game for maximum points as they look to climb the standings in a hectic run-in, but, while the Blue and Golds have been boosted by the returns of props Nick and Danny Caldwell, he admits he has front-row concerns elsewhere, at hooker.

“St Jude’s might be down there (in the table) but they’re a good side,” said Hill. “They’ve had cup runs – they got to the third round of the Challenge Cup and have just got beaten in the National Cup. They’ve got eight league games to play and could feasibly get that top-six spot with winning their games in hand.

“But when you start playing Wednesdays and Saturdays it gets harder and, unless you’ve got a big squad, you’re not going to win every game, so they’ll have games to concentrate on. I think this is one they’ll be targeting.

“But we have three away games on the trot and this is possibly the easiest, so we’re targeting it as well.”

Hill’s pivot problems revolve around Scott Rhodes, who is still out due to work commitments, and Andy Gargan, who is also unavailable for that reason. This means Timmy Elliot and Jon Liddell are set to continue at half-back, leaving the hooking role vacant. Hill is hoping assistant-coach Darren Callaghan will be available to fill the void despite his work commitments.

Acorn will also be without big centre Kyle Palmer, who has a hamstring strain, which forced him to miss Great Britain Community Lions’ match against France ‘A’ last night.

Tom Hill (knee) and Joe Budd (calf), who were named in the Lions’ train-on squad but were not selected, are also doubts.

The head coach added: “If we win, it should dispel fears of relegation and we’d be looking to challenge for the top six.

“If we lose, we’ll be relying on other results and one or two below could catch us up.”

Heworth have five games left in which to ensure they do not go through the entire season without a win. The Villagers, whose scheduled fixture against Rochdale Mayfield last week was rearranged to April 3, go to mid-table Stanningley on Saturday.

Acorn ‘A’ host Milford Marlins ‘A’ in Yorkshire League division two. Relegation-threatened Heworth ‘A’ have no game.

Brothers back to bolster Blue and Golds’ pack

ALFIE HILL reckons the return of big bruising brothers Nick and Danny Caldwell is a boost as the club look to force their way into the National Conference top tier play-offs.

The powerful prop pair left Thanet Road for premier division rivals Oulton last summer after a row with the committee but are now back and, after run-outs with the reserves, returned to the first team for last week’s draw with high-flying Wath Brow, with Danny in particular standing out.

Coach Hill said: “It always comes in handy to get players in, especially towards the end of the season. I don’t know whether they trained much with Oulton but I told them if they trained well here they’d get in. They’ve been doing that and getting back their fitness.”