Coach Simon Evitts praises Shrewsbury character
Shrewsbury climbed off the bottom and up to eighth in Midlands Three West North league with a bonus-point 25-17 victory over Trentham, writes Paul Joannou.
Liam Deery scored a brace of tries while Brett Doughty, Colin Dickson and Jonny Hampson also touched down in Shrewsbury’s second victory of the season.
Shrewsbury took an early 10-0 lead but were pegged back to 10-10 and then 15-17 before a spirited fightback saw them turn it around, much to the relief of head coach Simon Evitts who is now looking for his team to improve.
“The table is looking more respectable now,” Evitts said. “It’s still a bit frustrating though, because we allowed them back into it after getting the 10-0 lead.
“I think after the first two tries we were looking at the win before it came and it’s just a lack of concentration that allowed them back in. But I’m delighted with the character we showed and to get the bonus point although I feel we can offer a lot more.
“We’ve got four training sessions now to work on our defence so hopefully we can kick on and make it three wins from six next week which will look a lot better.”
After a poor start to the campaign Shrewsbury have now won two of their last three matches and Evitts feels the team are now over the worst.
He said: “We’ve had a few teething problems. We’ve had a lot of new players and we’re getting used to a new style of play but we’re getting there and I feel we have a really strong squad capable of doing well in this division.”
Telford Hornets maintained their perfect start to the season with a 14-0 victory at Stafford.
The game was tied at 0-0 at half-time. Ben Lewis finally made the breakthrough for the Hornets on 58 minutes which he converted. Telford extended their lead on 71 minutes when Jordan Jones caught a poor kick and burst through the defence to score the decisive try which was converted by Lewis from a difficult position.
Hornets withstood late Stafford pressure but sealed a clean sheet in a game first team manager Roger Bates described as the most physical of the season.
“We’re delighted with the result. It was a physical but fair game but they’ve came from a physical league,” he said.
“Every game is a benchmark, we’ve beaten two teams who’ve come from the league above.”
The wind played its part but Bates praised his side’s handling of the ball and fitness which he believes is the reason behind their great start.
“We’re a lot fitter now than a lot of clubs which is something we’ve tried to bring in,” he added.
“We’re making the ball do the work as well so I hope we can stay injury free and continue in this vein. I said at the start of the season I’m looking for a top four finish, but we’ll take each game as it comes.”
