South Shields Westoe entertain Medicals at Wood Terrace on Saturday in their final league match of the season. In a much improved league, Westoe are destined to finish in either fourth or fifth spot in a league where consistency has been the key.
Westoe have shown they can compete with the promotion chasers; however a small drop off in form pre-Christmas proved too much to stay in touch with the top three.
With half an eye on next Saturday’s National Cup play-off against Kenilworth, Westoe make a number of changes to the squad.
One name that doesn’t change is that of Ryan Lamb at prop. When he takes the field on Saturday, Ryan will be the only player to compete in every single league fixture for the second year in a row. Ryan played his youth rugby with the club and in recent years has become a corner-stone in the Westoe scrum and wowed crowds with his powerful drives and hard hits.
Louis Kellett joins him in the front row for Raymie Elliot and there’s a welcome return for Anthony Rumis in the second row. After last week’s promising debut, James Long receives his first start for the team and is joined by Andrew Kirton, in at No. 8 for Sam Gaff.
Sam Seymour starts at nine, alongside Ross Macauley in a revamped half-back combination and Sam Hughes returns for Joe McKenzie in the centres. Matt Rannigan is back at fullback with Luke Moffett dropping to the bench.
Despite the changes, Westoe field a quality side and should come away with the full five point victory against a side they have beaten on the last five occasions. They will need to ensure they do not ease off as despite the run of wins, Medicals have always shown threats in attack and competed well for much of their meetings, with Westoe requiring patience to break down their defence.
Kick-off is at 3.00pm at Wood Terrace.
1. Ryan Lamb
2. Haydn Richards
3. Louis Kellett
4. John Younghusband
5. Anthony Rumis
6. James Long
7. Sean Ramsay
8. Andrew Kirton
9 Sam Seymour
10 Ross Macauley
11 Paul Evans
12 Derek Worthington
13 Sam Hughes
14 Jamie Preston
15 Matt Rannigan
16. Rob Scorer
17. Alex Wylie
18. Luke Moffett