| Captain's Report Sat 8th March 2008 |
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| Written by Administrator | |
| Tuesday, 11 March 2008 | |
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Shelford's preparation for this game could not have been any better. With the exception of Samoan behemoth, Steve Smith, who broke his leg against Sutton & Epsom, we were at full strength and the atmosphere in the changing room suggested that we were more than ready for the challenge. However, in the first 20 minutes, we were guilty of waiting to see what our visitors had to offer. This is criminal against such a powerful and well-drilled side, who themselves were desperate to win the game and secure the second place league position that would ensure them a play-off against one of the bottom sides in National 3 South. Having gifted our opponents both possession and territory, they were able to capitalise on this overgenerous hospitality to score within the first 5 minutes. A second try followed when a poorly defended blind side handed Worthing another simple opportunity to score, which they duly converted. Tom Dann's marksmanship with the boot kept us in touch with the visitors in the first half, but despite having a strong wind at our backs, we were unable to break down a regimented Worthing defence for the first 40 minutes. Shelford finally started playing to our potential in the second half. Playing into the wind probably encouraged us to keep the ball in hand, simplify our plays and our ball retention was good enough to put several phases of play together and continually ask questions of Worthing's defence. Persistent attacks yielded two tries for Shelford. One for Kramer Ronaki, who burst over from close range, and the other for the ever-threatening Dom Jones, who outstripped Worthing's cover defence to score in the corner. Having hauled ourselves back to within a score of our visitors and with the last play of the game, we attempted to run the ball out of our 22. The overbearing pressure told, however, and we were unable to hold onto the ball. Worthing converted this turnover ball into a breakaway try, perhaps to flatter themselves slightly with a final scoreline of 21 - 34. Despite our mistakes, this was a great effort from the guys. We will perhaps look back ruefully at missed opportunities and scorelines that we should have forced to go our way. There are several strong sides in London One and at stake is the chance to play National League rugby. If promotion is an objective, teams simply cannot afford to lose more than 3 to 5 games in a season. This is the tough lesson that we have learned this season. So near to a National League status and yet we will still be playing in London One next year. Maybe the 2008/9 season will be Shelfords time to achieved this elevation. |
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 09 August 2008 ) |
Saturday's fixture against Worthing was a "must win" game for the Shelford collective in order to remain in the hunt for promotion to the National Leagues. What transpired was a gutsy display from the home side, full of endeavour and commitment, but which sadly lacked the result that we required. | < Prev | Next > |
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