Express & Star

Wolves hoping for derby delight against Walsall

Wolverhampton maintained their five point lead at the top of the Midlands 2 West Division with a hard-fought victory away at Longton on Saturday.

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Forwards coach Ian Harley was delighted by the way his side battled to a 33-17 win and how they inflicted a first home defeat of the league season on Longton.

“We expected it to be a tough game and it was,” said Harley. “They’ve come down from the league above last year and they have been a top team in Staffordshire for quite some time.

“They’d won four from four at home, so we knew it was going to be a stern challenge.

“So we’re very pleased with the result, it was a very even first half but at half-time we always felt like we would come out on top.”

Wolves’ Luke Brough crossed as early as the second minute but former player Sam Bedworth went over for the hosts and the score was only 8-7 to the visitors at the interval.

In the second half, Brough scored twice to complete a hat-trick and Nathan Parker also got in the act, in a second-half blitz that Harley believes was the key to the victory.

“We had to be a little more pragmatic than usual,” he said. “It was one of those days where we had to grind out a win.

“They were in touching distance right up until the 60 minute mark but then we hit a purple patch.

“First Parker crossed from 30m out with a turn of pace that nobody saw coming and then Alex Bird set up Brough for a really nice try.

“Bird put him into space and Brough burnt everyone with his pace. It definitely knocked the stuffing out of them.

“It gave us a nice points cushion and there was no coming back for Longton.”

Harley now looks ahead to renewing old rivalries against Walsall next Saturday and is eyeing a win against familiar foe.

“Last season, we played them in the league for the first time in years,” he said. “When we beat them there was a real buzz about club amongst the older guys.

“Its traditionally a big local derby and last year, definitely reignited the rivalry, It was our biggest home crowd of the season when we played them.

“We haven’t any targets in terms of the league but one of our season targets is to go undefeated at home and on Saturday we want to maintain that.

“We would be very disappointed if we let that slip against Walsall, we will make sure we prepare well this week and look to get another positive result at the weekend.”