Category: Match Preview

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

WORTHING V CANTERBURY

As a team we take great pride in playing at home. Our performances in front of our extremely loyal home support are very important to us and that’s what makes last Saturday’s game against Wimbledon so disappointing. The good in our game is something we can be proud of but the moments when we are not at our best are way below what we expect of ourselves, and these moments are really hurting us. Two kick chase errors cost us 14 points and when we have reviewed this as a team, we have identified these as effort errors. Effort errors are when we are not putting in the effort required for us to play our game and are not acceptable to us. This weekend our focus is on removing them from our game.
Worthing have had a similar start to the season to ourselves, and I’m expecting a tough clash down on the south coast.

Matt Corker, Head Coach

Last time we played away at Esher we lost 26-0. To come away eight points behind and fighting to the end there are obviously positives for us to take away from Saturday, but our overwhelming feeling is that we missed an opportunity. After the slowest of starts we were staring down a 17 point deficit. Esher had taken their chances well, but off the back of our cumulative errors. The quality of our current squad showed eventually, and we had two good scores to go in 22-14 at the half. We had all the territory and possession in the second half need to come away with a win, but errors blocked our ability to get over the line. The other disappointment is to leave empty handed. We learnt the lesson last season that good league campaigns are built on continually adding to your points tally, win or lose.
Three games in and our understanding of what we need to do to be at our best is coming into focus. We need to make sure this week against Wimbledon we are clinical with the opportunities we create. Wimbledon visit us off the back of a good win last week against Westcombe Park and our focus will be at being at our best for 80 minutes.

The Pilgrims started their league campaign with a great win at home to Beccehamians. The whole 1st and 2nd XV squad is much stronger this season and there are some very talented players representing the Pilgrims again this week.

Matt Corker, Head Coach