Richmond 52 Shelford 12

(From the Cambridge News)

Tovo frustrated with patched-up Shelford

TRIES from Miles Anderson and Sam Hoad proved to be no more than a consolation as injury-hit Shelford crashed to a heavy defeat at Richmond in National League 2S. 

The hosts crossed the line twice in the first 17 minutes and continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

By the time Anderson touched down after the visitors drove over with a rolling maul on the hour, they were already 42-0 in arrears.

Hoad added another try soon after during a brief Shelford rally, with Ed Gough converting, only for Richmond to grab two late scores.

Coach Sam Tovo said his side were always going to be up against it after losing eight regulars to injury.

That situation was made worse with prop James Ross and Douglas Finlayson becoming the latest casualties during the game with groin and shoulder problems respectively.

Tovo said: "We took probably a second string down to Richmond, but it wasn't so much they were the better team more that we didn't turn up on the day.

"We made too many mistakes and bombed three or four really good chances to score tries and that just summed up our afternoon.

"We put 40 points on them in the first round of games and we still thought we had a decent enough team to come away with the victory this time, but we just didn't manage our game plan effectively."