Mapals is flying ace – March

8:35am Tuesday 13th May 2008

YORK City Knights player-boss Paul March is set to give Lee Mapals an extended run at full-back after his record-equalling try haul.

The 22-year-old flier has played most of the season as a winger, but has often taken the number one shirt with distinction, never more so than on Sunday when he matched a Knights club record of five tries in a match in the 50-28 victory at Swinton.

He could have set a new best of six - just one behind the all-time York rugby league record of seven scored by Brad Davis against Highfield in 1995 - but had one effort controversially chalked off.

But March said his feat was no less notable and has come to the conclusion the former New Earswick All Blacks amateur, who was the Knights' top try-scorer last season with 19 while playing on the wing, is at his most dangerous at full-back.

"I think full-back is his position," said the scrum-half. "You need to have him with his hands on the ball and he gets it more often at full-back.

"It's always nice to get a hat-trick but to get four or five in one game, you must be doing something right.

"I asked what the record was and someone said Mark Cain got five in 2004. It's pleasing for Lee to match that. He was in the right place in the right time.

"He got on the back of some good football and the support play was unbelievable in the first half."

Mapals' disallowed try came at the end of another good move, as winger John Oakes kicked the ball inside with Mapals beating two team-mates to the touch down - only to be deemed off-side by a touch judge.

March said: "He was unlucky not to get six.

"I was in line with it when John kicked it, and I thought it was 50-50.

"Some touch judges would not have called it and some referees would not have gone to the touch judge. It could've gone either way, and it didn't go his way.

"He got up there again later, though, for his fifth try and all credit to him."

March says Mapals - who now has 12 tries to his name this term - poses a big threat when he is able to pop up all over the pitch, either when running the ball back or when in support.

"That's what we're encouraging him to do," said the player-coach. "His biggest threat is carrying the ball. When he does that, things happen. He averages 16 carries per match, which is high for a full-back or winger.

"I'm encouraging him to go up and to support the big fellas because the likes of Danny Ekis, Dave Buckley and Adam Sullivan can off-load and you need to be pushing up with them all the time. That's what I want all the guys to do."

March was delighted with his side's ruthless display in the first half after Swinton had had a man sent off, but bemoaned the way they fell off the pace after the interval - and stressed this is something they will be looking to correct in training.

"In the first half we created some good chances and scored a lot of points," he said, his side having built a match-winning 40-0 lead at the break.

"From the very first game against Wakefield, people could see how I wanted the team to play - moving the ball from edge to edge - and we did that against Swinton (in that first half).

"Now we've got to get our defence in order. I'm disappointed with the second half, letting in 28 points. It was always going to be hard to keep a team motivated for the full 80 minutes when you're winning by so much at half-time, but good teams, great teams, are ruthless in that situation. They go on and kill the game off totally.

"We've got stuff to learn from this win and that's one of the things - you can't switch off for one minute otherwise the momentum changes to the opposition. That's what happened to us and we did not handle it very well."