Post by Jamie Crawford on Dec 6, 2016 15:20:31 GMT
The first of our double British & Irish Cup games against London Welsh starts with the Knights’ second consecutive away game after last week’s defeat to Jersey Reds. Next week sees the home leg in a game where both sides will know each other’s styles of play intimately.
Oldeknight commented on the Forum about the Jersey game, “…the team we had out to come back from 32-7 at half time to get a losing bonus point 35-29 and scoring 4 tries for another point shows the commitment of all the team.” Another comment by a Jersey supporter, “…( a draw was) distinctly possible if the game had lasted another 5 minutes.” By all accounts the Knights showed great spirit and determination to conclude the game with two bonus points after being 25 points down at the break. This is the scoring equivalent of a draw. Hopefully this never say die attitude will not only continue but also become a win at all costs mentality. All of the hard work has been put in by the Knights so that winning mentality is overdue. After we gain the discipline, we already have expended the effort and we already have the commitment to regain that winning mind-set. This will see the Knights return to winning ways. It’s now time to regain that winning feeling and these B & I Cup games offer the opportunity with less pressure. Having suggested that we can use the Cup to improve for our Championship games; we are not down and out of the Cup after one loss. Remember that Munster A lost their first Cup Pool game to the Pirates in 2011/12 , they came second in the Pool behind Cross Keys by one bonus point. In fact Munster A were the bottom team of the final eight in the knock-out stages. They went on to win the Cup.
It is easy to get disillusioned by recent performances but we’ve all got to keep the faith and support our Knights. We have many injuries, allegedly 9 out of 27 (thanks John Bale on the Forum). Once these return I’m certain that we will return to winning ways. In a way we are the victim of our own success last season. We punched well above our weight last season by finishing second without having to spend anywhere near as much as the other top teams. ‘Boxing clever’ rather than spending gratuitously is definitely the way forward in these financially turbulent times for Championship clubs but it inevitably has a down-side. A limited budget means a reduced squad and so we suffer the consequences when a third of the team are injured.
As I’ve mentioned previously on the Forum, the other negative from last season’s success is that now the other Championship teams up their game because they know how good we are. Last season we started as one of the ‘also rans’ after the previous season’s performance.
Let’s be true supporters and back the team through the good times and the bad times.
Perhaps it is fortunate that we have two B & I Cup games for possible second-string team members to demonstrate their prowess without the pressure of a league game and for our injury list to become significantly shorter.
After two games have been played in the Cup, it is London Welsh that top Group Two after winning both of their games. Rotherham Titans are second after winning one of theirs. Neither Munster A or the Knights won the one game that they played. Munster A are above the Knights by a points difference of two!
The other game taking place in Pool 2 of the B & I Cup is Rotherham Titans welcome Munster A to Clifton Lane but their return match in Ireland has been postponed from Saturday to Sunday.
COYK
DONNY, DONNY, DONNY…
