Craig Ratford

New loan signing Ratford hopeful of improving club’s fortunes on the pitch

Craig Ratford is eyeing up revenge when Barking face Macclesfield this weekend at Gale Street.

Ratford, who is back on loan at Barking, made his last appearance for the Goresbrook side against Macclesfield at Twickenham in the clash of the two promoted sides from National Two in May 2010.

That day Macclesfield came out on top 30-26 and Ratford feels he has a score to settle.

“The last time I played for Barking was against Macclesfield at Twickenham,” said Ratford, who scored 12 out of Barking’s 17 points in the defeat at Tynedale last weekend.

“There is a bit of bad feeling and hopefully this weekend we can put it right with a win.”

This season the 20-year-old tore a quad muscle which kept him out of action for five weeks.

It proved a costly absence as fly-half and team-mate Dan Mugford cemented his place in the Scottish side this season, and Ratford has found appearances hard to come by of late.

So he was delighted to be returning to the club he started at as a youngster on a short-term basis.

“Apart from the coaching staff not a lot has changed at Barking since I was last here,” he added.

“It is always nice to be back at my home club, and one I have been with for a large chunk of my career.

Of his position at Scottish he added: “In the first half of the season I was playing almost every other game of the season until I tore my quad but since then I have been lacking pitch time, with Scottish having two other good players in my position who are in at the moment, I have been unlucky really.”

The loan will be on a game-by-game basis, dependent on injuries at Scottish.

But in the short time he has spent combining the training schedules of both clubs, Ratford feels the current squad at Barking is capable of getting out of the National One relegation zone.

“There are a good bunch of guys here and the atmosphere has been good despite the position they are in,” added Ratford.

“The table doesn’t lie but the group is pretty confident of turning things around.

“They believe they can do it, and hopefully in my time here I can make a difference.”