A VISIT to the league leaders is often a daunting task – but for Market Rasen & Louth RUFC it's particularly ominous on the back of a seven-match losing streak.
The Red and Greens need a shock to the system – from a surprise victory – to breathe life back into their Midlands 1 East campaign.
Although clear of the relegation zone, Rasen's 43-23 home reverse to Matlock was their seventh straight defeat.
In contrast, high-flying Old Northamptonians, who host Rasen on Saturday, are enjoying an excellent eight-match winning streak in the league.
On paper, there is only one winner – the Willingham Road club will need a heroic performance to upset the odds.
One thing's clear, they will need to start better than they did against Matlock.
The Derbyshire outfit set the tone on four minutes when winger Henry Packard broke through for the game's first try.
Rasen fly-half Meehal Grint and Matlock stand-off Chris Young then exchanged penalties.
Winger Henri Packard forced the ball over the line to score for Matlock after a quick move.
Young underlined his kicking skills by scoring the kick from his weaker side.
Grint's penalty reduced the deficit.
But after the visitors' kick-off led to a Rasen scrum on the halfway line, Matlock pounced again. A mix-up in the scrum saw the ball drift lose and Packard capitalised, breaking through at pace for another try.
Rasen slowly came back into the game. The home forwards worked their way deep into Matlock territory, forcing the visitors to concede a scrum five metres from their line.
Chris Starling then drove forward to score, just managing to get his outstretched arm across the line.
Matlock retaliated with another Young penalty.
He later finally missed a kick, from midway into the Rasen half, that fell short of the posts.
With Matlock's Jack Wagg being sin-binned, Rasen took advantage. Dave Starling made a determined run and crashed over under the posts, leaving Grint a simple conversion.
Young converted another successful penalty kick before Alex Powell exchanged passes with Packard and touched down. Young added the conversion.
The visitors almost scored again but it was ruled out for a knock-on.
Rasen didn't give up and forced errors from Matlock.
Eventually, persistence paid off with Olly Cole scoring a try.
But overall Rasen were second in all departments and must avoid the concession of early tries and penalties if they are to test Old Northamptonians on Saturday.
