A VALIANT EFFORT FROM THE PHOENIX

Phoenix travelled the short distance to there local rivals Drifters.

Phoenix who had gained promotion this season from Berks Bucks and Oxon Championship into the premiership, and Drifters who had come down from southern counties.

Neither side have played each other for over 3 years nor did neither team know each other’s style of play so this was always going to be a testing game for both sides.

From the outset It was Drifters that started the stronger not allowing Phoenix to settle and there speedy backs were creating mayhem as they attacked Phoenix but some strong resilient defence kept the Drifters team out time and again but eventually Phoenix run out of defenders for a well worked try from Drifters with the conversation Drifters went into a 7 point lead.
Phoenix was finding it hard to judge the pace of the game and it was not long before Drifters had raced into a commanding lead.
At the break Phoenix decided to change their style of play and play a tighter game and drive at the Drifters team and this stood them in good stead as they managed to get some go forward ball, but again the Drifter defence stood strong and quashed the Phoenix attack.

Summary
Every one of you guys put in an amazing shift in this game with some strong resilient defence that made all the coaches proud .The side that we fielded has had very little game time together and maybe with a bit more practice together we will become a strong outfit that can compete with anyone in this league. I myself felt so proud of the way you guys performed, I know you are all probably thinking they beat us by a considerable margin but imagine if you had not stepped up your game. A comment was made during the game that you had defended 13 breakdowns and that is something you very rarely see in premiership rugby let alone at our level. That game was being played at one hell of a pace and you all managed to live with it, and if we play our rugby every week at that pace teams won’t be able to live with us. With a few minor tweaks on the training pitch things will be stronger .Finally to all the new comers that came into the side well played you raised your game and never let anyone down. Be Proud of yourselves guys
Very important that we make the training sessions to be able to correct those niggly bits.