BAILDON Head Coach Jake Duxbury has expressed his delight with the progress the club has made over the past couple of seasons, particularly in this year's campaign.
The Bradford side are currently third in the Yorkshire Counties Two division and are set for their highest ever league finish barring a catastrophic end to the season.
With three games left, this current crop of Baildon players are well placed to write their own history and it's an achievement that Duxbury, if all goes to plan, will not be overlooking.
He said: "I took over Baildon in 2019 and we were second from bottom in Yorkshire Three (equivalent of Counties Three now). So, I think the progress the club, players and staff have shown has been nothing short of exceptional. So, no matter what happens in these last few games, there will definitely be a sense of pride.
"It will be the highest league placing of any side in Baildon's history no matter where we finish and I think that achievement optimises all the good work that has gone on at the club over the last few seasons.
"Coming into this season, we asked for progress on last year (finished seventh) and it looks as though we'll see that progress, and that will offer a great amount of pride to the club, me and the players. Last season we survived comfortably in Counties Two and this year we've made a real push towards the top end of the table, so the progress is evident.
"The main thing for me, as I've said to the club, is that people are enjoying watching Baildon and the players are enjoying playing for Baildon whether that's first or second team. The fact that we've got a group of players all wanting to wear this badge and wearing it successfully is great."
Duxbury added: "We are all on the same page and we love fighting for each other; that's the sign of a good and united team. It's a bit of an anecdotal story but when I first came to the club, we went on a social gathering as a team and there was only 11 players who attended. Last week on our most recent social event, there was nearly 40 players who attended. It just shows how far the club has come in terms of progression."
Baildon will be looking to finish the season on a high with the first of their remaining three fixtures being played today, as they travel to Wheatley Hills for a 3:00 pm kick-off.
Looking ahead to the fixture, Duxbury said: "As I say, we want to finish the season as strongly as possible because we have nothing to lose. We know promotion rests on the teams above us dropping points and of course, we have to do our job in the remaining three fixtures.
"We want to go out there and round off an extremely strong season in style but Wheatley Hills will be no easy game. They have goals of their own to avoid relegation, so it will be a tough afternoon of rugby, for sure."
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