KIRKBY Lonsdale skipper Matt Hughes says his side’s home form will be the key to success in North One West.

The Underley Park outfit are unbeaten at home since last October and picked up their first win of the season in a 25-18 victory over Broughton Park on Saturday.

“Basically the teams that stayed up last year won their home games and the ones near the top were those who managed to nick a few away wins,” said Hughes. “It will be the same this year because there are no weak sides. Home form is absolutely crucial and we are very confident when teams come here.”

Australian Nick Edney marked his debut with a try and while happy with the result, Hughes admits his frustration at late lapses in concentration.

“We still had a few lads missing so to get a bonus point win was excellent,” said Hughes. “Nick is a good young lad. He is only 20 and in his first year of senior rugby but is not afraid to get stuck in.

“The first half they weren’t in it to be honest. We were by far the better team, played all the rugby and defended brilliantly and then we got into quite a healthy lead.

“In the last 20 minutes we seemed to take our foot off the gas. It got to a point where we knew we had won it and let a couple of soft tries in which was disappointing and frustrating from a captain’s point of view because it has given them a losing bonus point.”

Ben Walker is currently travelling in Indonesia while Jack Akrigg is close to completing his rugby league season with Ulverston - but Hughes hopes his squad will be back to full strength in the coming weeks.

This weekend Kirkby travel to Widnes in search of back-to-back wins.