Post by phanlon on Apr 30, 2009 13:39:03 GMT
I think the major success story of this match came in the car park at the Mount when so many lads turned up for the game we had too many subs!!! That is the sort of selection headache every manager at this age group loves....
And so to the match, personally I believe that a lack of match practise coupled with the sheer number of new players led to a disjointed team. Once again as individuals players gave their all with some real standout performances but as a team we lacked a game plan and some positional awareness.
In the first half we started poorly, training-ground moves weren't executed and the team struggled to gel, however some good individual breaks and some subtle guidance from the touchlines helped the team gain some pattern. From here we looked good, defended well and broke forward when possible.
The second half was a much better affair, Orrell eventually going over but fumbling the grounding after a similar incident in the first half. Our pressure payed off and a training ground penalty move led to our first and unfortunately only try of the match.
Overall considering the lack of match practise and the mix of new players I was personally pleased with the way Orrell played. LSH were under pressure on a number of occasions and had we grounded our chances the score line would have been (forgive me but I wasnt keeping count yesterday) around 35-17.
Everyone had there moments in the game but the standouts today were Sam who is our own Paul O'Connell (not just in hair colour), he leads and motivates the team excellently and Scott B who has really impressed myself and Darran since coming to the club, the sort of player opposition fear and who can turn a game with some well placed tackles.
My challenge to the players for pre-season and going into next season is to build on this momentum, show up for training week in week out, with the players we have once they are playing as a team i think we will be in a good place come the start of the season.
And so to the match, personally I believe that a lack of match practise coupled with the sheer number of new players led to a disjointed team. Once again as individuals players gave their all with some real standout performances but as a team we lacked a game plan and some positional awareness.
In the first half we started poorly, training-ground moves weren't executed and the team struggled to gel, however some good individual breaks and some subtle guidance from the touchlines helped the team gain some pattern. From here we looked good, defended well and broke forward when possible.
The second half was a much better affair, Orrell eventually going over but fumbling the grounding after a similar incident in the first half. Our pressure payed off and a training ground penalty move led to our first and unfortunately only try of the match.
Overall considering the lack of match practise and the mix of new players I was personally pleased with the way Orrell played. LSH were under pressure on a number of occasions and had we grounded our chances the score line would have been (forgive me but I wasnt keeping count yesterday) around 35-17.
Everyone had there moments in the game but the standouts today were Sam who is our own Paul O'Connell (not just in hair colour), he leads and motivates the team excellently and Scott B who has really impressed myself and Darran since coming to the club, the sort of player opposition fear and who can turn a game with some well placed tackles.
My challenge to the players for pre-season and going into next season is to build on this momentum, show up for training week in week out, with the players we have once they are playing as a team i think we will be in a good place come the start of the season.