“Back to basics” pays off

BRIDGWATER & Albion went “back to the basics” at Teignmouth in South West One (W) on Saturday – and it paid off handsomely.
Albion romped to a 40-22 victory in Devon following a poor display the previous weekend at home to Okehampton.
“There were not a lot of positives to take from the game against Okehampton,” said head coach Simon Morrell, a former coach at Teignmouth, yesterday.
“We worked really hard in training last week and it paid off. We dominated territory and had long spells in their half. It was a real shot in the arm for the lads.”
Albion, who lost 54-0 on the same ground last season, made changes from the previous weekend, one of which was to play Taylor Buller, normally a No 8, are centre. “He was tremendous,” added Morrell who has welcomed the break from rugby this coming weekend. “We had to match them physically.
“We also had to not over-react to the defeat by Okehampton and to keep things on an even keel.
“We will be carrying out fitness tests this week in training and looking at conditioning data,” said Morrell. “We have to think of everything and to work hard, because we can get better.”
Morrell is also looking forward to the following weekend’s home game against Thornbury who have been playing well this season although they lost 27-12 at home to Matson and remain third in the table.
“We would like to beat a top form side now and to start pushing up the table. We’re tenth but we’re only nine points behind Drybrook who are fourth,” said Morrell.
Weston super Mare are still 100 percent and run away leaders. They chalked up their 17th victory of the season by narrowly beating North Petherton 24-18 at home in a hard-fought close game on Saturday.

Category: 1st XV News, Previews / Reports -XV