Published: Tuesday, 9th March, 2010 6:00pm
Hopkins - We need to finish on a high
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BRACKNELL RFC head coach Ken Hopkins admits last weekend's 31-12 defeat at third placed Hertford has all-but-ended their National Three London promotion hopes.
However the former academy director believes his side still have a lot to play for. And he has challenged them to finish the season with a bang.
The Lily Hill Park side's latest defeat - their biggest of the season - has left them a massive 26-points adrift of Old Albanians in the hunt for second place.
And Hopkins admitted this week: "It is disappointing because we set out at the start of the season to gain promotion and realistically our chances of acheiving that are now over.
"But with a team like Jersey in the league we have always been playing for second place against some very good teams, so it was always going to be very difficult.
"We must not forget that this is only our first year in the league and a top three or four finish will represent a good season.
"Personally looking at the fixtures list I see no reason why we cannot win most, if not all, of our remaining games.
"It is a chance for us to finish the season on a positive to set things up for next year.
"I will also look to introduce a few players to see how they will fare in the first team."
On Saturday Bracknell fell behind as early as the fourth minute when winger Adam Roberts scored a converted try.
And things soon went from bad to worse when first Leo Bailey and then Stuart Mackay were sent to the sinbin.
Hertford took advantage to run in their second try before center Oli Jones gave Bracknell a lifeline in the final minute of the first half with their opening try.
Skipper Ben Nowak converted to close the gap to 14-7 at the break.
However the Lily Hill Park side were playing against the slope in the second half and they conceded two more scores before lock Jason Borcherds nicked a late consolation try.
Hopkins said: "We were missing one or two key players in the second and back row. But no excuses, we were beaten by a better team on the day.
"They are a good well organised, fine all-round team.
"We got two yellow cards in the first half, meaning we played for 20 minutes with 14 men. When you are playing a side of Hertford's quality you can ill afford to do that.
"We gave away too many penalties and made too many unforced errors. We certainly contributed to our own downfall."
On Saturday Bracknell will be looking to bounce back at home to fourth-bottom Tring, who had a good 33-15 win at home to fellow-strugglers Sutton & Epsom last time out. Flanker Kyle Lovell scored a hat-trick of tries when Bracknell beat the Hertfordshire side 27-10 earlier this season.
And Hopkins is hoping Lovell and lock Kenny Barry will return for the return game.
He said: "Kenny should be fit and Kyle is available again.
"We will be looking to bounce back with a win against Tring on Saturday.
"The pressure will be on us, being ar home. But I fully expect us to get back on track.
BRACKNELL: Astbury, Mckenzie, Jones, Nowak, Mackay, Manupenu, Ap Dafydd; Mirza, Surman, Hoskins, Bailey, Borcherds, Sparks, Clarke, Maybury. Replacements: Brambley, Kemsley, Carter.
