We’re on course for ideal start

DELIGHTED Underbank boss Richard Knight believes his side’s start to the National Conference League First Division season could exceed everyone’s expectations.

Rangers head into tomorrow’s home clash against Blackbrook having won their opening three 2017 fixtures.

They then follow it up with another home game against Hull Dockers seven day later.

Form would suggest Knight’s men will be too strong for both of their opponents.

And if that’s the case, Knight wouldn’t be happier.

“At the start of the season, we set ourselves a target of winning four out of our first five games,” revealed Knight.

“We saw last week’s trip to Milford as the potential banana skin. But that didn’t prove the case at all, and we came away from there unscathed.

“So we’ve now very high hopes of doing even better than four out of five.

“Obviously, we won’t be taking anything for granted at all.

“But there’s no doubt we’re going into these two games with a great deal of confidence.

“To be honest, I’ve not been happy with our completion rate and the number of penalties we’ve conceded in our opening three games. We’ve fallen behind out opponents on these particular stats.

“But we’ve still ended up winning the games, so we know that if we start completing at a higher rate and cut out the penalties, we’ll be even better.

“That’s our challenge for our fixtures ahead.”

Knight has lost the services just for the weekend of in-form hooker Sam Rochford with a slight leg knock, with the vastlyexperienced Andy Boothroyd a great obvious replacement.

But Underbank are boosted by the return of top forward Craig Williams, who was unavailable for the Milford win.

“We’ve also got slight doubts over Luke Pogson and Will England,” added Knight.

“But we’ll still looking in very decent shape for this weekend. Picking a side isn’t going to be easy.”