WHARFEDALE coach Peter Hartley believes it is vital that the Greens bounce back from their first league defeat in seven matches with a win at home to Blackheath this Saturday.

With two potentially tough matches to follow which will take Dale up to the halfway mark this season, Hartley sees the visit of the longest running club as a must-win game.

Saturday's game against Blackheath is followed by a home match against second-placed Newbury and a visit to Bracknell, a team who Dale have traditionally not done well against.

With Blackheath six points behind Wharfedale having only won three times against teams in the bottom five, Hartley believes Saturday's match could be the easiest of three games before the Dalesmen enjoy a Christmas break.

He said: "Of course, we have to try to win every game, but of the three games left, Saturday is the one we have to win. Then we'll worry about Newbury the week after."

Founded way back in 1858, Blackheath's pioneering role in club rugby has led to them being known simply as 'The Club'.

Blackheath have spent most of its time in the top echelons of the national league but have dropped down in more recent years as far as National Three South. But the London-based club will play only their third match against Wharfedale after being promoted with Launceston last season.

Dale's run of six consecutive league wins came to end in a 23-11 defeat at Moseley last week. Their below-par performance was not helped by the late withdrawal from the starting line-up of influential Kiwi stand off Daniel Snee, who was hit by a violent bout of sickness prior to kick-off.

"He went from being fine to very ill in no time at all," said Hartley. "It was only when he arrived at the ground did he start feeling ill but we were quite worried about him near kick-off time."

Snee made a remarkable recovery to take the field in the second half, but the incident clearly hampered Dale's preparations.

"The uncertainty caused us problems. If, for example, he'd pulled a hamstring we'd could have mentally dealt with it," added Hartley.

"The poor start probably cost us the game. We can make excuses, but we've got to be better than that. We didn't deserve to win."

Though Snee didn't train on Monday night, he has shaken off the virus and is included in tomorrow's starting line-up, which remains unchanged from last week, other than props Craig Ingram and Neil Dickinson swapping places.

On the bench, 24-year-old prop Adam Mason comes in for his first squad appearance. He is joined by Oliver Renton and Adam Oldfield.

Team: Davies, Horsfall, Malherbe, Baggett (c), A Lovatt, Snee, Cottrell, Peel, Lawn, Dickinson, Lister, Capstick, Baldwin, Verity, Wade. Reps: Ingram, Mason, Renton, Oldfield.