St Ives 18pts v Basingstoke 3 pts away EDF Cup, Oct 28th

Report by courtesy of Basingstoke Gazette.

BASINGSTOKE’S long and physically demanding day-trip to St Ives ended in a defeat that director of rugby Jim Dixon felt was harsh on his players, given their application and work-rate.
Saturday’s first-round match in the EDF Energy National Trophy handed ’Stoke a tough challenge against their fellow South-West One rivals down in Cornwall. St Ives scored three unconverted tries and a penalty to ’Stoke’s solitary penalty from Simon Humberstone to win. Having called up a host of Dragons players and made wholesale changes, Dixon was keen to see who would stake their claim for a possible regular first-team berth. Simon Lovegrove, Jamie Folan, Phil Perkins, Chris Williams, Steve Pywell and Christie White – a late replacement for the injured Caan Childs (strained back) – came into the pack, while Dave Hoddard, Simon Humberstone and Tim Richards lined up in the backs.
Dixon was pleased to see all of them respond to their call-ups. "Every one of the boys contributed and have given me a selection headache before we play Reading next weekend," he said. "A few of the boys really have put their hands up, but it’s a good problem to have." On Saturday, playing with the strong weather conditions, hardworking ’Stoke could not convert their territory into tries and led 3-0 at half-time.
"A couple of dubious referee decisions went against us when we were close to their line," said Dixon. "Being 3-0 up wasn’t quite enough and they scored two tries in the second half when we were down to 13 men. "Steve Pywell and Tom Northcote got yellow-carded for us. I didn’t see Steve’s but Tom’s was harshly given in a similar situation when we were attacking in the first half. One of their boys didn’t get binned. "Tom was penalised for hands in the ruck and was then retreating when their guy ran straight at him, so of course he tackled him. The guy made no effort to run around Tom, so he’s entitled to make the tackle. "But we lost both players and being down to 13 men cost us, as we hadn’t scored enough points in the first half." Dixon, who gave all of his replacements – Adrian Hopkins, Matt Oliver, Andrew Rowlands, Darren Lillywhite and Dan Rees – a run-out, added: "We are of course disappointed not to have won, but we defended a lot better and that was the main improvement I wanted to see after the Oxford Harlequins defeat." ’Stoke’s attentions now turn to this Saturday’s important league match at rivals Reading, who are fifth in the South-West One table to ’Stoke’s eighth. Dixon is confident his players have learned the lessons from their poor display and last-minute 24-25 defeat by Oxford Harlequins. "I had to have a few strong words and we went through the match video, so that I could out- line our mistakes and how it affected us in particular patterns of play," he said. "It was a good session. Some of the new boys, who have been unclear about what we are trying to do, asked the right questions, and other issues that needed addressing I raised, to get the message home. "Piece by piece, I think they now realise what’s required of them, individually and as part of the team. It’s important we work through it and everyone under- stands what their job is. "We worked very hard on our defensive structure last week and will continue to do that. The boys responded positively and with the right attitude, which was good to see." Dixon admitted having the tie instead of a league game was frustrating because he and his players wanted to get the Oxford defeat out of their systems. He added: "It’s a bit of a catch 22. You want to keep momentum going in the league, but we have got injuries to key players, like Myles (Rutherford) and Shane (Murphy), and they needed to rest, so it helped us there. "We’ve got to get these guys fit and right for the league games – and Reading is a big game for us and everyone at the club."