Published at 13:12, Friday, 16 March 2012

NORTH LANCS/CUMBRIA RU

UP FOR IT: South African Corne Els leads from the front in Furness’s narrow defeat to Upper Eden last weekend Steve Trainer

FOLLOWING a terrific display in defeat to Upper Eden last week, Furness will be in confident mood ahead of tomorrow’s home game against St Benedicts (3pm kick-off).

The visitors will provide another very stern test for the Strawberry Grounds outfit – their quality shown in only losing by only an margin against league leaders Kirkby Lonsdale last weekend – but if Furness can maintain the intensity levels displayed against the North Cumbrians, then it should be a cracking encounter.

The returning Thom Vanstone proved to be more than a handful for the Eden defence with some creative touches and hopefully he will produce the same kind of performance.

Unfortunately, work commitments keep Joel Williams out of action, which is a bit of a blow for the Blues as he and Vanstone looked to be bonding well in the half-back slots.

Up front, the forwards will again be asked to take on bigger opponents. However they have proven themselves capable and skipper Corne Els will be snapping at them to continue where they left off last week. The pack in particular look to be working well together as a unit, with Els leading by example and driving them forward.

Ninth-placed St Benedicts will travel as favourites, but so were Eden last week, and the Furness faithful will hope for another gutsy display to give them something to shout about. Players are asked to meet at the club at 1pm.

Furness seconds hit the road with a trip into Lancashire to take on Burnley in a re-arranged game. In the reverse fixture, the Blues came out on top, winning 36-12 at the Strawberry Grounds in September.

Home advantage should make Burnley favourites, together with the fact that Furness have not played for a couple of weeks.

All players are to meet at 11am for transport.

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