Depleted league-leaders Scarborough on the road at former rugby giants West Hartlepool on Saturday.

DAVE CAMPBELL’S PREVIEW

Aaron Wilson will miss Scarborough’s next three games PHOTO:  ANDY STANDING

North One East league-leaders Scarborough travel to West Hartlepool on Saturday with a side decimated by injury and unavailability; missing from the team who beat Moortown 22-14 last Saturday are centre Aaron Wilson, who was concussed in that game and will miss the next three and wing Joe Marshall with an ankle injury; influential fly-half Tom Ratcliffe and back row Chris Purdy are unavailable. No8 Ben Martin who was concussed at Huddersfield YMCA misses his second game of three and Tom Harrison who was injured in the first game of last season is not yet ready to return to action.

In a completely re-shuffled back division wing Jonty Holloway plays at fullback, veteran Graeme Jeffrey who has yet to play this season and youngster Tom Anderson plays on the wings, Billy Parker comes in for Wilson at inside centre and Henry Hocking moves from fullback to replace Ratcliffe at ten.

In the forwards Joe Nellist starts at tight-head prop and Ryan Fowler plays blind-side flanker with Euan Govier returning from injury at open side. Matty Jones, Jordan Holloway and Will Leah are on the bench.

Graeme Jeffrey dives in to score at Silver Royd  PHOTO: ANDY STANDING

Founded in 1881 ‘West’ was a ‘senior’ club for over a hundred years and eventually played as a professional club in the Premiership when the game went professional; however they never had the financial clout of the millionaire-backed outfits in the league and eventual went back to their amateur roots. A series of relegations saw them tumble through the leagues.

Last season they won the play-off with Heath for promotion to North One East. So for they have won only one of their five fixtures beating Pocklington 24-20 in their second game of the season; last week they lost 59-14 at Cleckheaton. The men from county Durham have struggled with a catalogue of injuries this season so Saturday’s game with a depleted Scarborough side should be interesting with the team with greater strength-in-depth probably prevailing.