JON Feeley has lavished praise on the crop of talented youngsters at Wharfedale, saying his Colts side is vital to the future of the club.

He was keen to praise teenager Ben Patchett for his impact at the scrum in Saturday's 27-27 draw with Tynedale in National Two North, but also namechecked several others for their efforts so far this season.

Head coach Feeley said: "Ben Patchett from our Colts side changed the scrum around against Tynedale and we deserved more from that.

"The Colts' success last season has really influenced the first team this year and it's perfect for me as head coach. Alongside Ben, we've got the likes of Harry McNab, Oscar Canny, Sam Dickinson and Ryan Hodgson.

"They're only 18 or 19 and there's a lot more development to come from them. It's an exciting team.

"The Colts is vital to the future of the club too, as although we can attract players through our set-up and brand of rugby, geographically we are a distance from the main cities."

Those young guns will be key when the Greens visit sixth-placed Stourbridge in the league this weekend, with Feeley stressing the importance of tackling low and stopping quick ball from the West Midlands side.

Feeley said: "They're very direct and they have big runners, which on their 4G pitch, are difficult to bring down. We have to be low in our tackles and chop them off at source.

"They'll also look to try and get their back three involved, who have a lot of pace. But we beat them at home last year and found that if you stop their source of quick ball, they struggle."

Feeley will be keen for his eighth-placed side to bounce back, after they blew a comfortable lead and had to settle for a home draw with Tynedale last weekend.

He added: "I feel as though the result left us in purgatory, because the scoreline didn't accurately reward the team that played rugby, which was us.

"I thought our handling was excellent and our ability to create opportunities as an attacking force has really improved this season.

"We were a danger with ball, and when we got it to our back three, Harry Bullough in particular, we made great inroads.

"Tynedale have a simple, forward-orientated game though, and we just gave them too many opportunities at set-pieces.

"We gave them too many penalties in good kicking range to allow them to get to our 22 line and drive forward.

"Having a penalty overturned against us (for an off the ball incident) when the scores were tied was a key point too. Our discipline has been largely excellent this season, so that was uncharacteristic from us."