Category: Match Preview

BURY ST EDMUNDS V CANTERBURY

After another five points on Saturday, we are up to 6th in the league table as well as chalking up our fourth win in a row. It has been a long time since we have achieved this and it has been hard earned by the lads on the pitch. That isn’t the whole story though. From a really commanding position, with a 19 point lead after scoring early in the second half we finished defending a five point lead, with a top draw turnover from Jamie Stephens to close out the win. From my perspective the root of the problem in the last 35 minutes was our relationship with the man in the middle. 11 penalties, our normal average for a whole game, and two yellow cards put us under pressure and even after some strong defence sets, we were pulled back due to infringements. One of my favourite coaches I played under always said that the referee was the most important person on the pitch, and we have spoken this week about how to avoid our most common penalties and how to work back from a rocky period. It is important to not gloss over the great tries that we scored, most built on speed and accuracy and the change in our defence. After our reflection at the end of last season this was the main area needing improvement and the players have turned it into a strength. This week sees a test of our credentials at Bury St Edmunds who sit one place above us in the league table and are always formidable opposition on their own ground. Back in our starting line-up after recovering from injury is lock Shay Kerry but we lose flanker Cam Murray who, sadly, has suffered a family bereavement. The only question mark is over the weather as there have been heavy frosts in Suffolk this week. We hope to have an early decision on the fitness of the Bury pitch.

Matt Corker, Head Coach

GUERNSEY V CANTERBURY

Fifty points on the road, and five added to our league tally is exactly what we wanted from last Saturday. Long journeys and performing at your best is a mental challenge that we are beginning to get to grips with. This will be tested again on Saturday as we get on a plane to play Guernsey. There are still things we are working hard to improve, as there always will be, but I can really see growth in our understanding of what are the foundations of our best performance. The old cliché of the top two inches wins you games rings true for us at this point in our journey, and the players know the importance of mental preparation leading up to kick off. And can the Pilgrims keep up their fine unbeaten record in their home game with Crowborough? We are going for our third week of double wins as a squad and we know that we are going to have to be at our best on all fronts to keep on a roll.

Matt Corker, Head Coach

NORTH WALSHAM v CANTERBURY

Last week getting the job done in a tense local derby, played in torrential rain, is something the players and I were proud of. If we have learnt anything from South Africa lifting the world cup after closing out their last three games by a point, the only thing that matters is the score at the final whistle. There are things that we can improve on but we increased our physicality from the loss at Barnes which was a big target for us. We also finished some good tries. We know that we still need to improve our conversion rate in the opponents 22, which will make our attack more ruthless, but the energy that we brought to this area is moving us towards that goal.
Frank Reynolds spoke really well to the team at Thursday’s training session and his focus is getting us to the same emotional level this Saturday, away at North Walsham, as we did against Westcombe Park. This is the responsibility of the whole team and is the only way we will get the performances that we want.
We are saying goodbye again to Billy Young after his brief return following the sad demise of Jersey Reds. Billy is moving down to Cornwall for a new challenge with the Cornish Pirates. It has been great to have him back in the group and we wish him all the very best down in the west country.

The Pilgrims march on and made it seven from seven with a convincing win against Dover. After losing this fixture both home and away last season it was another great result as this group continues to get better week on week. The strength of the whole 1st XV and Pilgrims squad continues to push us forward as players move between both teams driving the environment. The Pilgrims travel to Charlton Park this week as they to continue to stake their claim for the top spot in the league.

Matt Corker, Head Coach

BARNES v CANTERBURY

Where we are in our journey, to be five points short at the final whistle against the top team in the league could be something for us to be happy with, but we’re not. Two relatively simple defensive errors from us early on gave Dorking a strong start and at a critical point in the second half when we were camped in the Dorking 22m we couldn’t convert enough of our chances into points. The higher we go the less chances we will have and the smaller the margin for error becomes. This is what we are working to change in our game and when we get it right, we will be the ruthless team we know we can be.

The last game of this block for the 1st XV, before we take a two week break, sees us travel to Barnes. Barnes are sitting in second place after only dropping points to Dorking and we know this will be another test. We have been focusing on increasing our accuracy this week and transferring the quality of our Thursday night training sessions into our Saturday afternoon performances

Matt Corker, Head Coach.

CANTERBURY V DORKING

Worthing over the years has never been an easy place to win; the last time we achieved this was the season we were promoted. Granted, Worthing are having problems with injuries, but a win on the road is exactly what we needed and our position in the league table also improved significantly. I can’t say that we made it easy and staring down the barrel of three scores behind we gave ourselves a challenging situation before we fought our way out of it. The composure we showed to control the final 15 minutes was very pleasing to see and was the difference between the two teams. That and Nathan Morris bagging another hat trick!

This week I’m really looking forward to seeing how we perform against the top team in the league. Dorking have started with maximum points in the first five games and are playing rugby to match this achievement. Last season’s fixture at the Marine Travel ground was decided in the final minute of the game and with both squads stronger than last season I am expecting more of the same.

Matt Corker, Head Coach