SIMON TUFFS reckons his York Acorn ARLC side can overcome their slow start to the season and be in the mix near the top by Christmas.

Acorn won for only the second time in eight outings when overturning Skirlaugh 30-14 last weekend.

They face a difficult trip to fourth-placed West Hull on Saturday (2.30pm) but Tuffs reckons more performances like the one last time out will have them climbing the table.

“The teams at the top only have ten or 12 points and, while we’ve got a tough away game on Saturday, we’ve then got a decent run of games and we believe we can win most of them,” he said.

“If we play as well as we did on Saturday, control the ball as we did, not invite pressure by turning the ball over, and take our chances like we did, there’s no reason why we can’t win most of those games and be in the mix.”

Asked how important last week’s win was, Tuffs said: “When you’ve lost four on the trot, you’ve got to break the habit as soon as you can.

“We didn’t do much differently to what we had been doing in the past. It was a few small things really that turned it round.

“The spirit has always been good and there’s plenty of self-belief. You never quite know how a player is feeling with confidence when you lose games you shouldn’t lose, but they played really well.”

Acorn will be without big prop Danny Caldwell and fellow forward Daryl North on Saturday, both having picked up shoulder injuries, while key attacker Leigh Rientoul is still unavailable.

Heworth are hoping to get back on track straight away after defeat to a Crosfields side who had lost all four games up to last week.

The Villagers go to Ovenden this Saturday and are likely to give a similar squad the chance to make amends for that 10-8 loss. Two points then would have lifted the York club into joint-third, but another defeat this week could have them on the fringes of the re-election zone.

Club spokesman Ken Sykes said: “It was a very disappointing result. Crosfields played quite well but it was definitely a game we should have won. We just didn’t perform and seemed to lack the energy we had the previous week against West Bowling.

“We had plenty of chances and territory but each time we got near the line we dropped the ball, plus we missed two kickable goal kicks.

“We could’ve been on six points now and, looking at the way the division is shaping up, we could have been in quite a nice position.

“We’re hoping to make up for it this week, although it won’t be easy. Ovenden have a sloping pitch and tend to play better at home. But we need to get back on track.”

York Acorn ‘A’ go to Milford Marlins ‘A’ in Yorkshire League division two, while Heworth ‘A’ travel to Ryhill Hammers in division three.