1 Nov 2008 - Nailsea & Backwell 1st XV 31 Old Reds 2nds 3
Nailsea & Backwell 1st XV 31 Old Reds 2nds 3
Another good, positive “team” performance. Although there are numerous injuries in the squad at the moment whoever is asked to play and wherever they are asked to play all come in and stake a claim for a regular place. They want to play.
There is competition for places and those that really want to play are starting to put there hand up other than just on a Saturday. “At last it sinks in”
Disappointment is a hard tablet to swallow, however winners make it happen losers let it happen !
The game? Well the return of Wayne McMillan from his home trip saw him play his best game for the club to date. He was almost unstoppable. I say almost because he ran out of puff shall we say. He continued to ask questions of the visiting defence and his combination with Filby at 9 was very positive and had a great effect on the rest of the team. The set piece was not its best but it didn’t matter on this occasion the commitment was outstanding. The other things ?
Well the emergence of good combinations to appear and influence the game came in the shape of Lowis and Goodall. Linking well together in nearly all they did. Goodall playing his first game of the season showed he has the ability to make a difference if he wants to. He also appears to be very positive about his return to rugby which is a bonus. The team will benefit from his positive attitude and rugby ability if it is sustained. Some of the running lines were outstanding.
One or two new bits were tried and some real penetration came from some of the things on display. Liam Harris being the beneficiary from a move to the wing. James Stayley also a beneficiary to the team by playing in the second row. Though he may not agree. A tremendous performance and an attitude the coach would love to see all follow.
Generally the defence was good and it continues to improve from week to week. The realisation that this team can now play adaptable rugby is dawning. Something we have been working hard to achieve.
Good hands generally caused the visitors problems. Just occasionally we don’t recognise the need to use all the hands and chuck a miss pass that cancels out our overlap. It will come and at the moment we are grateful for all we can get as we wait for our opportunity to field our strongest side in the run up to probably our toughest part of the season. Well done guys keep it coming.