St jacques 14, Beeches 50
ST JACQUES suffered their second defeat on the bounce as they lost by a hefty margin to Beeches.
Saints had been enjoying a great time in the league and were second in the table.
But all their good work is in danger of being undone after they lost by two points at Jersey Wanderers a couple of weeks ago and then at the hands of Beeches at the KGV on Saturday.
Their cause was not helped by the fact that six of their eight forwards were at Twickenham to watch England lose to Australia.
‘The nature of this defeat at home is a concern as I would never have envisaged such a wide margin of victory for Beeches, despite the fact we were missing a lot of key players,’ said St Jacques coach Chris Griffiths.
‘I believe we do have strength in depth at this club, but some of those players who were given a chance to step up just didn’t do it on the day.
‘Overall this season I am still more disappointed that we managed to let the Wanderers game slip through our fingers two weeks ago as we would still be in the top two in the league despite this defeat, but we move on and look forward to the next two league games before Christmas and have to put things right.’
A minute’s silence was held before the match for Beeches’ captain Iain Burrell, who was tragically killed in a motorbike accident two weeks ago.
Beeches were understandably very emotional and they were fired up.
Saints could not contain an initial onslaught and let in two very early tries before they could even muster breath.
With the majority of their forwards away, Saints were struggling to win any ball against Beeches’ much bigger pack.
The visitors’ strength and belief seemed to grow as the Guernsey side fell off tackle after tackle.
Griffiths said it was one of the poorest defensive displays he had seen from his side in some time.
Their problems escalated when veteran winger Phil Hughes came off with a dislocated shoulder and although they managed a try before half-time, albeit a penalty one awarded for a late tackle on winger Rodney Gregg as he was about to go through to score, they were already some distance behind.
The second half proved no easier for the home team as they lost players through injury, including both props and a thoroughly battered fly half.
Gregg scored a consolation try in the corner following a good move by the backs.
Despite the disheartening defeat, they were some plus points for Griffiths.
‘There are a few positives. We managed to get some first team experience for players who up until now have only played second team games and there were also some individual performances especially from Rodney Gregg and Alec Bailey, who both stood out defensively and going forward,’ he said.
Saints’ next match is against Guernsey Seconds on Saturday 28 November.JRA League: Depleted pack is no excuse for margin of defeat, insists Saints coach Griffiths
Article posted on 11th November, 2009 - 2.29pm
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