Rugby - High-flyers home test for Kendal (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Rugby - High-flyers home test for Kendal

9:31am Saturday 19th March 2011 in Sport

KENDAL face a tough test at Mint Bridge on Saturday against high-flyers Caldy.

Last season Caldy escaped with the narrowest of one- point victories, but Kendal have a solid set of home results in recent years.

Ian Voortman returns in place of Steffan Thomas who is unavailable for the match, while John Ladell returns to the bench after a back injury forced him to miss the last couple of weeks.

Ladell’s return gives the Black and Ambers extra cover at No9 while Dan White also makes a return on the bench.

Back row man Garry Holmes continues after making a comeback against Grasshoppers.

Team: Mulholland, Lowther, Voortman, Robinson, Park, Ireland, Morosan, Quarry, Green, Harryman, Hayton, Gore(c), Holmes, Mallinson, Bowman. Substitutes: Coxon, Houghton, White, Ladell, Mercer.

VOORTS VIEW: Kendal coach Ian Voortman offers his weekly view.

THERE has definitely been no shortage of drama at Mint Bridge this year, with Saturday’s clash against Grasshoppers not doing the Alikadoos' blood pressures any good whatsoever.

A gutsy second-half performance, combined with another fearless goal-kicking display by Mark Ireland, saw us over the line by the smallest of margins.

Although the players showed levels of determination and energy when Preston had the ball that were missing the previous weekend, we still have much work to do on our defensive structures.

Neil Rollings is down on Tuesday to help us with our organisation and communication in games and we’re trying to close the gaping holes and commit more defenders to areas where we are outnumbered to eradicate the soft tries which have been a hallmark of our season thus far.

Illness to Dan White meant we had to start with Garry Holmes and our intentions of breaking him in gently after his long lay-off went out the window. Fortunately he managed an impressive 70 odd minutes and, touch wood, he will be like a new signing leading into the crucial backend of the season.

Caldy are our guests on Saturday and recent history suggests that the supporters are in for a fantastic afternoon’s entertainment.

See Kendal tear into Caldy, followed by England claiming the Grand Slam on the big screen, what could be better? Mint Bridge is the place to be on Saturday.