South Wales Warriors Have Last Chance To Gain That Winning Feeling

By Twm Owen

 

The curtain will come down on a season to forget for the South Wales Warriors this weekend but they’re hoping for one final memory to savour.

The Warriors have yet to win this year and have already lost twice during the current campaign to their final opponents the Solent Thrashers.

The south coast side will be aiming to secure a play-off spot with a win, or even a draw, from their first visit to Llanaharan on Sunday (12pm).

Should the Warriors win the early kick-off their visitors will have an anxious bus ride home as they check for updates from other games in the southern conference of the British American Football League (BAFA) to see if they will be denied post season football due to the points per game average.

Warriors head coach Geraint Roberts hopes his team, which was playing in Britain’s top tier Premiership last year, can end their season with a victory and make it a long journey into the unknown for the Thrashers when they head back to Southampton.

Roberts has known his team would finish bottom of the table since June’s away loss in the dying seconds to the Thrashers and relegation will be confirmed when next year’s league structures are agreed during the off-season.

But for Roberts, restoring some pride to the club – which recognised it would be unable to compete in the top tier and opted for relegation from the Premiership at the beginning of the year – is the priority.

“We’d like to finish the season with a win. It’s been a tough year, but with so many close losses this year were positive of getting the first – and only – elusive win,” said Roberts.

Of their nine losses, half have been by a converted touchdown or less, a fact that demonstrates a stingy defense – but also an offense lacking potency.

Solent have no such worries though. In their last outing they thrashed the Oxford Saints 40-21 and their only loss since scoring a touchdown with 15 seconds on the clock to deny the Warriors a first win was a 35-9 defeat at runaway division leaders the Sussex Thunder.

The last-gasp June defeat was a marked improvement on the Warriors’ first away game of the season – a 20-0 loss to the Thrashers.

The only other heavy defeat suffered by the Warriors was a 42-0 hammering, in Oxford, at the hands of the Saints.

That game saw club stalwart Stuart Bicker pressed into action as emergency quarterback when Dean Jackson was lost for the remainder of the season to a shoulder injury and regular starter Max Ayoul was already unavailable due to work commitments.

As a precaution the Warriors have tested several squad members at QB should they be needed on Sunday. But Ayoul will be anxious to recapture the early promise he showed when he came on to spark a late fightback in the narrow 6-13 home loss to the Saints in week two.

The Frenchman has since established himself as first choice and shown how dangerous his powerful right arm can be. But the passing game has also been undermined by inaccuracy with the Warriors QBs too often finding defenders rather than their own receivers.

Heavy rain blighted the Thrashers game against Oxford, stopping the home team’s passing game and forcing them to rely on their ground game, which the final score proved was no problem for them.

The Thrashers, Saints and the Ouse Valley Eagles have all taken points from each other and Roberts said it was only the margin of the Thrashers victory over the Saints that surprised him.

“I think the scoreline was more of a surprise than the actual result. Solent are a well drilled team and have lots of talent within their ranks,” said the coach who believes both the Eagles and Saints could also be described as inconsistent.

Though the Warriors haven’t conceded more than two touchdowns in any home game this season both the Saints and Sussex Thunder racked up big yardage on the ground at Llanharan RFC.

But Roberts says the team is determined to make a stand and try and reward the loyalty of those who’ve turned out to support the team in their home fixtures, which are all free to attend.

“‘I’d like to thank everyone that has come down to support us this year. Their presence is always appreciated by everyone at the club, and we’ll try our best to repay them with a win on Sunday.”