6th & 7th September, Sheffield
Cheltenham – Polytechnic: 18 – 6
First game of the season, against a team we know is fit. Their game is based on swimming and even though they lost their best player who joined Lancaster, they proved too strong for us. They played a half pool press and wrong decisions in our attack gave them the opportunity to break and score easy goals. Whenever we played a set game in our defence, we would not allow any goals in. It is the sort of game where we need to minimize out mistakes, play the whole 30 seconds of the clock when we attack and be ready to cover any breaks. Teamwork and communication are the key words if we want to stay in these games.
Penguin – Polytechnic: 12 – 7
A very bad result in a game we could have and should have won. As predicted, they played a drop on our pit. Although we started badly and found ourselves trailing by 2 goals, it was a close game and seemed it could go either way. If I remember right, we were 1 goal down getting in the 4th quarter, but then lost a couple of our players with 3 majors. Lost our concentration and let the game slip out of our hands. The final 5 goal difference was formed in the last 1-2 minutes of the game, where for some reason we gave up. We should be worried about the 15 majors given against us when we only managed to get 6 for. We must decide on a game plan to follow when the opposition plays a drop, so that everyone in the team knows what to do and when to do it.
Bristol – Polytechnic: 15 -7
Not much to be said about this game. Possibly our best performance of the weekend, but still was not up to scratch. Bristol is the current title holders. A team that does not count on swimming and fast breaks to win matches but they play a set and controlled game. They have many good and experienced players, but most of the game goes through one of their guys’ hands. I think we were late to call a man-mark on him. We would still probably lose the game, but the final score could be a lot closer. There were times in the game where we played quite good, but still we have periods where we lose our concentration and make mistakes, mainly when we get tired.
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