LONG-SERVING prop Nick Hare hopes to bring down the curtain on his lengthy rugby union career with a York victory at home to Yarnbury tomorrow.

He was the cornerstone of York's pack for many years and played a major role in York's climb through the leagues to North One.

The unusual situation of playing a re-arranged game in May has arisen because of Yarnbury's success in the Yorkshire Shield competition and a large number of their matches being postponed earlier in the season because of an unfit pitch.

The match will be played at Clifton Park, kicking off at 3pm. A win could dent Yarnbury's promotion hopes.

Apart from Hare, York make only two other changes to the starting line-up that beat North Ribblesdale two weeks ago.

Sam Arkle plays in the centre in place of Sean Bass, who is unavailable, and Matt Halifax replaces the injured Brad Macdonald in the second row.

Craig Ventress who played a major part in York's Yorkshire Cup win against Goole, is on the bench.

Pocklington's annual encounter against a star-studded president's XV on Sunday (2pm), has extra significance this year as the occasion will also mark one of the most remarkable careers in the club's history.

Contesting the Roma Caravans Shield, a powerful line-up of top players, many of them with links with Pocklington, will line up against a Pocklington 1st XV which includes full-back Mark Taylor, just as it has for the past quarter of a century.

His record of 25 successive seasons of first team rugby is unique at Pocklington, and perhaps much wider afield.

He made his senior debut for Pocklington against the Unicorns in 1977 when he was still a pupil at Pocklington School, and he made an immediate impact by scoring a try and kicking two conversions.

Now, 25 seasons and almost 1,000 Pocklington performances later, he is still turning it on at full-back, with his powerful running, enormous touch-kicks and deadly one-on-one tackling.

Taylor is Pocklington's leading try scorer again for the current season.

The President's side includes players from big clubs, many of them having won representative honours.

In the backs are former Pocklington School centre Jon Stuart, now with Glasgow and who has played for Scotland Under-21s and Scotland 'A', while a powerful pack hopes to have such big men as Wakefield's ex-Harlequin Mick Watson and Harrogate's John Dudley in partnership.

President's XV (probable): G Hope (Hull Ionians), S Edmunds (Bridgewater), J Stuart (Glasgow), S Farnsworth (Bank of England), S Mitchell (Newcastle), T Lauriston (Middlesbrough), T Wilcock (York Acorn), P Priestley (Goole), C Kendra (Leeds Tykes), H Mitchell (Pocklington School), G Mangalo (Kirkaldy), A Wilson (Leeds Tykes), S Sellers (Selby), M Webber (Pocklington School), P Williams (Otley), M Watson (Wakefield), I Carroll (Otley), S Anderson (Hull), J Dudley (Harrogate), A&R Wilson (Cleckheaton), A Spenceley (York), M Hill (Woking).

Updated: 16:37 Friday, May 03, 2002