Ex Unitate Vires… Strength in Unity!

There is one thing in life that I can guarantee: nothing stays the same for any length of time. Given our recent run of poor form and injuries, we know that if we stay together, keep working hard and keep believing, the tide will turn. I’ve taken some real encouragement from Coney Hill’s resurgence over the past few weeks and believe that our goals, both individually and collectively, will only be attained with continued hard work, and by not allowing ourselves to become negative.

Our 2011 results, as far as the overall outcomes were concerned, and also the manner in which some of these results were attained was a great reward for the hard work and commitment of all the players. But these results will count for nothing if we don’t now push on. We will do this by picking up competition points & getting ticks in the win column to re-start our challenge; we have given ourselves a good launching pad for the rest of the campaign by getting a number of bonus point wins and narrow wins on the road, but nothing more than that. The only certainty we have for now is that it will get harder, much harder. It will be the ability to raise our standards to meet each and every new challenge that we confront, which will ultimately dictate how the 2011/12 Cheltenham Tigers team are defined.

Cheltenham 7 v 34 High Wycombe

Cheltenham’s post Christmas result continue to undo all the good work done before the break, after a 1st team squad depleted of 9 regulars succumbed to a 6tries to one beating at a wet and windy Kingsmead park home of High Wycombe Writes Derek M Clifford. Cheltenham had their one moment of inspired rugby as early as the 3rd minute when the ever alert Jason Graham switched the direction of play with quick hands passing to young full back Jack Kerr whose delicate chip ahead was retrieved by himself for a fine try near the posts with centre Josh Herbert adding the extras to lead 7 nil.

The Hangover…

As you know, the Tigers have lost three of our last four matches and we are probably in the worst shape physically that we have been in all season in terms of injuries. We have been off our game and as a result, the 50/50 calls havent gone our way, which just ramps up the pressure. One could argue that we havent had a lot of luck recently, but I believe that you make your own luck, and we certainly havent helped ourselves in the way we’ve played in large sections of our matches so far in 2012. Being a long season, I believe that one of the things that’s really important is not just the quality, but the depth of your squad. Obviously from a Club perspective, our main aim is to have everyone healthy and competing for positions and to see good numbers training and playing regularly. We certainly planned for the inevitable injuries & unavailability that affects every team, but I never in my wildest dreams thought we’d be staring down the barrel with 4 props, a back row and three backs all injured within a 2 week period.

Cheltenham 17 v 31 Reading

Cheltenham’s decline since the Christmas break continued with another defeat and the hands of Reading at the Prince of Wales Stadium, and now Cheltenham find themselves 9 points adrift of leaders Maidenhead. Writes Derek M Clifford. Cheltenham did however have the lions share of the early exchanges, with Stand in Captain Tom Lait scoring the first try with Josh Herbert kicking a fine conversion from wide out. With 16 minutes played Cheltenham extended their lead to 10-o with Herbert kicking a penalty from 30 metres.

Hard routine…

We might not have achieved the outcomes we were seeking in our first three matches after Christmas, but there is still a lot of rugby to come from a competition perspective. Looking at the form of the top four teams, that is going to make for a massive challenge, but it is one we must meet head on if we are to keep the pressure on those teams who are currently ranked above and below us on the competition point’s table.There are still aspects of our game that we have been working on and need to continue to work on to ensure we give ourselves every opportunity to be a force at the business end of the competition.

In terms of the reading Abbey game, outside of a 15min patch in which we looked like a top class outfit and scored 3 great tries (specifically, the first 5min, 2min in the middle and the final 8min of the match) I thought we were miles off where we normally are in terms of the intensity. The desire just wasn’t there, and neither were the high standards we’ve set ourselves and expect of ourselves as a group. The poor performance wasnt due to a lack of commitment or preparation, as we really wanted back up last weeks effort, to show that we are deserving contenders in this competition.

Reading Abbey 29 v 17 Cheltenham

Following last weeks bone crunching 0-0 draw against local rivals Coney Hill, Cheltenham’s hopes of bouncing back were dashed with a 29-17 defeat away at Reading Abbey, and in the process slipped to 3rd in the South West 1 East league table Writes Derek M Clifford. Cheltenham started the game with a stiff wind at their backs, and opened the scoring inside 2 minutes with Skipper Charles Daniell darting over from short range for a unconverted try. From the restart Cheltenham’s cause was hindered when they lost the dependable prop Steve Moore with a bad leg injury causing a rethink with no front row replacements on the bench. Abbey soon utilized this reshuffle when the diminutive winger Gavin Dampies caught the Cheltenham defence on the back foot for a fine try with the boot of Jack Parsons converting.