Match Preview

Sandbach welcome Newport Salop on Saturday, heartened by a good win on the road away to Kettering last weekend. The victory took Sandbach to second in the league, largely because Newport’s game v Peterborough Lions was postponed, meaning that the Bradwall Road boys have played one more game. Newport arrive unbeaten this campaign, having once more recruited strongly during the summer, which saw Benny Elliot leave Sandbach for them, after eight seasons and accruing just short of 2,000 points during his time at the club. He has been joined by the former Longton flyer Sam Evans, who also crossed the county borders to reinforce them. They have had a few movements out though and Sandbach will be more than happy to see the departure of Henry Vaka, who has been a thorn in their side on more than one occasion.

Matches between the two clubs are usually close, with the Shropshire outfit traditionally liking to play a power-based game. However, with their recent comings and goings, they should be able to play a more expansive game. Sandbach know that they can play in a variety of ways, which was illustrated last weekend, scoring from a forward’s driving maul, an 80-metre counterattack score and the third try after sixteen phases of play. As a result, Sandbach have always been capable of defeating anybody in this league and have beaten the best on several occasions. The issue has always been consistency, so they will be pleased with their performance of recent weeks, in this regard. They just need to keep it going. The weather forecast is mixed, which could also influence the game but no matter what, expect a full-on encounter, with little in it.