Rye aiming to turn over league leaders

The New Roaders will take on Sussex Intermediate League leaders Bognor II in their final home game of the season tomorrow (Saturday).

Rye coach Jeremy Nobbs said: “Bognor at home is a massive game. We’ve got to win that and the East Grinstead game (Rye are away to East Grinstead III in their final league fixture of the campaign next weekend) to be sure of our third position. Maintaining our position is down to us doing our job.”

Thanks to a splendid run of seven consecutive league wins, Rye have risen to third in the table, albeit only a point ahead of fourth-placed East Grinstead and fifth-placed Heathfield & Waldron II.

“We’ve got two teams behind us chomping at our heels, but I’m very happy with our current position in the league,” continued Nobbs.

“If we can end up third it will be a good achievement considering we were in disarray at the end of last season in terms of our club structure. Because the club is now on the up, we’re hoping that will drive recruitment.”

After being fixtureless last weekend, Rye will return to action against a Bognor side which has won 18 of its 21 league encounters so far.

Bognor triumphed 34-22 in the reverse fixture just before Christmas, but Rye are unbeaten in home matches against top six opposition.

“I think we’ve got a good chance,” Nobbs went on. “Home advantage is a big advantage in this league and it’s a winnable game for us.

“We played them at Bognor just before Christmas when we didn’t have all the players that we would’ve wanted to take away.

“They will have changed since then, but we definitely have changed. If you look at their results since then, their scorelines are similar or slightly better than ours. At the moment it’s all quite nip and tuck between the three sides at the top of the league.”

Tomorrow’s match is exactly three months on from Rye’s last defeat in any competition and they also have a Sussex Plate final against BSMS (Medics) to look forward to on Saturday April 30.

“We would love to finish this season with a winning sequence,” added Nobbs. “The guys’ spirits are really high, training numbers are good, motivation is good, discipline is good and we’re understanding how to win games.”

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