DIRECTOR of rugby Dan Protherough is expecting ‘large improvements’ from Bromsgrove this weekend when they entertain Midlands One West basement boys Sutton Coldfield.
After winning their first nine games of the season, the Boars have since suffered back-to-back defeats, with their latest loss coming last Saturday in a 36-22 reverse at Stourbridge Lions.
The defeat has dropped Protherough’s side to third in the table, four points behind second-placed Dudley Kingswinford and nine points behind league leaders Burton.
And with bottom-of-the-table Sutton making the trip to Finstall Park tomorrow (Saturday), the Boars chief is hoping for a quick return to winning ways.
“Looking at the league right now, it looks like there is a three-horse race for the two promotion spots,” he said.
“And if we want to stay within that race we have to make sure we turn our results around pretty quickly.
“We need to be looking at making large improvements to our energy and urgency this weekend because that was missing against Stourbridge Lions.
“For us it is all about focusing on ourselves, not worrying about what others are doing and trying to maintain some focus and discipline.
“We have had a good start to the season and when you look at all the trouble we went through last season, you have to put that into context.”
Having been level at 14-14 at Stourbridge, Bromsgrove had managed to force their way into a 22-18 lead.
However, a ‘lack of discipline’ and ‘silly yellow cards’ resulted in the visitors eventually slipping to a 36-22 defeat.
Will Harris and Jake Hayden-Wright bagged the tries while James Upton and Richard Mahoney kicked the remaining points.
“The game was closer than the scoreline suggests,” said Protherough.
“Stourbridge were a good side but during a period when we were dominating we just did not turn the pressure into points.
“We then lost our discipline a little which proved costly in the end.
“I cannot quite put my finger on how to describe the performance but there it certainly was not complacency.
“We had a meeting on Tuesday about the game and the lads are ready to get a result this weekend.”
Jake Abbott, Tom Hardwick and James Martin remain long-term absentees while Josh Holt (away) also misses out this weekend.
