Godsell urges Supermarine to shape up (From Swindon Advertiser)

Godsell urges Supermarine to shape up

7:00am Wednesday 1st February 2012 in Rugby By Ned Payne

DIRECTOR of rugby John Godsell gave a brutal assessment of Supermarine’s shortcomings after they slipped to defeat against Pewsey Vale on Saturday.

Godsell’s troops succumbed 26-11 in the Dorset & Wilts 1 North contest, dealing a blow to their hopes of promotion from the division.

Supermarine might be are the highest-placed first team - and therefore in line to go up - but their advantage has been cut to just two points by Pewsey.

And a try from scrum-half Gareth Hughes and six points from the boot of Stu Dawson was scant consolation for Godsell.

“The guys’ confidence is down and fitness levels are down,” he said.

“They aren’t playing as a team at the moment, there’s a lot of individuals out there.

“I think there’s a few more issues involved than rugby - mental problems and confidence problems.

“We’re in a mental slump at the moment and we don’t have enough characters in the team who can dig us out of situations.

“We need to build up our team spirit and start playing as a club again.

“Some changes are going to be made selection-wise to address the issue of fitness, and our training is going to go back to basics as well.”

Godsell was disappointed that his side, who he views at their best as an expansive and exciting outfit, put up little resistance to the workmanlike display of their visitors.

He added: “Pewsey Vale weren’t a great team, they played an old style of rugby but were disciplined and compact.

“We didn’t play that badly, just in peaks and troughs, which Pewsey took advantage of.”

Elsewhere in the division, Fairford were on the receiving end of a 79-5 hiding by Chippenham 2nds, while Minety crushed Sutton Benger 59-0, putting the visitors out of sight with seven tries before the break.

Dale Langdown grabbed a hat-trick inside the first 40 minutes and Jack Ward and Phillip Stephens (2) were also among the try scorers.

Leading 45-0 at the break, Minety added two more tries to their total after the interval, with Gareth Peirce crossing the line for the second of these scores.

Minety 2nds edged out Calne 2nds 17-5 in Dorset & Wilts 3 North.

Skipper Steve Murray, number eight Sean Richards and Andy Edwards all crossed the whitewash, while Edwards also kicked a conversion.

Meanwhile, Swindon lost to Coney Hill for the second time this season in South West 1 East, going down 36-23 at Greenbridge Road.

Swindon College Old Boys shared a 21-21 draw with visitors Gosford All Blacks in the Berks/Bucks & Oxon Premier, while Chippenham defeated Amersham & Chiltern 20-7 in National 3 South West.

Wootton Bassett’s hopes of sneaking into the top two in Southern Counties North were dealt a blow as they were defeated 13-0 at fellow high-flyers Windsor.

Cricklade’s visit to Bradford on Avon 2nds in Dorset & Wilts 2 North was postponed.