ALTHOUGH Wharfedale suffered a 26-14 loss at Chester at the weekend, coach Jon Feeley highlighted the positive impact the Greens' "home-grown talent" made on the game.

"There were some key points that we've got to learn from," said Feeley.

"We have got to keep possession of the ball. We gave it away too cheaply, and just didn't keep the ball long enough.

"We were passing the ball as if we were playing under pressure and we were not secure enough in contact. These are two areas that we will need to work on in training this week."

But Feeley was keen to focus on the 'huge positives' to take out of the game.

"We gave another debut to one of our home-grown talents in Owen Bullock," said Feeley. "He more than held his own against the opposition and gave a good account of himself."

Feeley also praised 18-year-old Oscar Canny, who like Bullock was one of the Wharfedale Colts' National Cup winning side last season.

"Oscar was man-of-the-match and had an outstanding performance," said Feeley. "He has the ability to get around the defender's shoulders and make big breaks. To see him more than held his own at this stage of his young career is brilliant."

In addition to Bullock and Canny, Wharfedale had two other Colts from last season's cup winners playing in the first team at Chester on Saturday.

Last year's Colts' captain, Henry MacNab, scored one of the Wharfedale's two tries and young prop Ben Patchett came on as a substitute in the second half.

Feeley hailed Wharfedale's commitment to its young players, saying: "I can't imagine there is another team in this league that is investing in its youth system as we are."

Those young players will once again get a chance to a mark against one of the toughest teams the Greens will play this season, when undefeated Caldy travel to the Avenue this Saturday.

"The first thing is that we're not going to worry about Caldy, we can only control what we can do," said Feeley. "Caldy are an established team that came down from National League One, and they've retained most of their players."

Feeley said one of the things that the Greens have working in their favour is the "incredible Wharfedale faithful. "We're at the Avenue, and it can be the most difficult place to play for visiting teams."

"At the weekend, one of the Chester players also said it is one of the most enjoyable grounds to play at in terms of atmosphere."

About this Saturday's opposition, Feeley said: "Caldy have a very effective front row and some very quick players in the back.

"We have to be clinical in our exit strategy and make sure we limit their attacking opportunities."

Wharfedale have three players - Ben Blackwell (knee), Joe Altham (calf) and Oli Cicognini (hamstring) - all facing fitness tests in training this week to determine if they will be ready to return to the squad for Saturday's match, which kicks off at 2pm.