North Herts Crusaders 52
St Albans Centurions 6 A crushing away defeat to one of the favourites for the league was hardly the season-opener new skipper Joe Baker was looking for. But even as his exhausted warriors were trooping from the field, he was keen to identify the positives from the new-look team. “Against an outfit as slick and well-drilled as North Herts, the boys never let their heads go down and continued to fight for the shirt until the very end. The fact that we were once again camped out on their try-line as the final whistle blew is a testament to their spirit and teamwork. That’s a brilliant foundation for us to build on for the rest of the season”. Led by the old-guard stalwarts of Roy Dube, Joe Shaw and Matt Stringer, the Centurions fielded a team of mixed experience. Regulars like Scott Cluelow and Nick Woolley battling shoulder-to-shoulder with promising newcomers such as flying-winger Jake Lawrence and Alex Powdrell impressing in both attack and defence. Whilst the future does look bright with so many new faces on the scene, the learning curve will be a very steep one if Saturday’s performance is not to be repeated. Ill-discipline led to a string of penalties and the loss of both territory and possession. Whilst individually the lads tackled their hearts out – Niall Braniff making 19 and missing none – as soon as the defensive line lost its shape, the Crusaders’ ruthless attack punished it. Offensively, more guile and pace are required if opposition defences are to be exposed. Too many times the Centurions let promising situations go begging – something for Coach Simba Mupamhanga to work on with the boys before the visit of Bedford Tigers to Toulmin Drive on Saturday 12th, 2.30pm start. Comments are closed.
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