BEWARE OF THE DOG – WARRIORS LOOK TO MUZZLE BULLDOGS
The Gloucestershire Warriors travel to Birmingham to face the Bulldogs knowing that they cannot afford many more defeats if they are to make the playoffs in August.
With the three match winning run from the start of the season a distant memory the Warriors will be looking to end a run of three straight losses as the competition enters the second half of the season.
The Bulldogs meanwhile are comfortably situated in the top three and look a good bet to stay there for the remainder of the campaign.
The Warriors defeated the Bulldogs 40-14 at Chosen hill but travel to the Bulldogs’ new home at Aston Old Edwardians in Perry Common with an indifferent record in the second city.
The Warriors’ win there last season followed defeat in a rearranged game in 2007 and though they were successful at the start of the 2007 season, it was their first ever win in Birmingham.
Birmingham are a strong side with a big pack and speed out wide and will be looking to bounce back after a surprise 37-26 defeat at home to Coventry Bears last week. They have lost just twice this season, to the Bears and the Warriors, and in such a tight division as the Midlands Premier they know that every defeat could be costly and home advantage must be made use of if the Bulldogs are to make the play-offs for the first time for a number of years.
Coach Tom James will be hoping that he will be able to call upon a number of the players that took the Warriors to the top of the table earlier in the campaign.
“It’s no reflection on the abilities and efforts of the guys who’ve turned out over the last few weeks, but we need some of the experienced guys back to help them along,” he said.
“I was very pleased with the way the team went last week. We spoke before the game of using a very simple game plan and they carried it out very well. We completed our sets and only offloaded two or three times”.
“In defence we saved several tries. They were held up over the line three or four times and Rich Carter made a couple of great saves to shove them into touch by the corner flag”.
“Of their tries, four came from missed tackles in midfield, one we got a bad bounce of the ball and the other, well, if you go over the line four times then you’re bound to get one down eventually and the referee was in a great position each time to rule”.
“So I have no complaints about the result. It’s a big picture situation. The players will learn from this and hopefully improve little by little over the next few weeks”.
“But we really need a result this weekend.”
MIDLANDS PREMIER DIVISION TABLE:
| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
| Leicester Phoenix | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 167 | 127 | 40 | 10 |
| Bristol Sonics | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 170 | 132 | 38 | 8 |
| Birmingham Bulldogs | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 144 | 133 | 11 | 8 |
| Derby City | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 172 | 130 | 42 | 6 |
| Gloucestershire Warriors | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 154 | 184 | -30 | 6 |
| Coventry Bears | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 187 | 182 | 5 | 4 |
| Telford Raiders | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 82 | 188 | -106 | 1 |
Redditch Ravens withdrew from competition. Their record has been expunged.
TOP SCORERS (after 7 Rounds):
Tries:
6– Tanaka Chaunukawa (Coventry Bears)
6 – Paul Szehofner (Telford Raiders)
6 – Ty Watson (Leicester Phoenix)
5 – Gareth Daikin (Derby City)
5 – Dan Evans (Bristol Sonics)
5 – James Gross (Bristol Sonics)
5 – Parminder Tutt (Telford Raiders)
4 – Danny Bancroft (Birmingham Bulldogs)
4 – Steve Barnes (Gloucestershire Warriors)
4 – Darren Birch (Leicester Phoenix)
4 – Richard Blagg (Derby City)
4 – Jamie Howe (Leicester Phoenix)
4 – Matt Hurdle (Gloucestershire Warriors)
4 – Tom O’Toole (Coventry Bears)
4 – Richard Rainger (Birmingham Bulldogs)
4 – Dom Swann (Bristol Sonics)
Goals (Including field goals):
25 – Nathan Walmsley (Leicester Phoenix)
20 – Paul Worthington (Derby City)
17 – Dom Swann (Bristol Sonics)
15 – Danny Bancroft (Birmingham Bulldogs)
12 – Nathan Tilsley (Coventry Bears)
Points:
57 – Nathan Walmsley (2 tries, 24 goals, 1 field goal)
50 – Dom Swann (4 tries, 17 goals)
47 – Paul Worthington (2 tries, 19 goals, 1 field goal)
46 – Danny Bancroft (4 tries, 15 goals)
24 – Tanaka Chaunukawa (6 tries)
24 – Danny Davis (Gloucestershire Warriors) (3 tries, 6 goals)
24 – Nathan Tilsley (12 goals)
24 – Paul Szehofner (6 tries)
24 – Ty Watson (6 tries)
Next fixtures, Saturday 27 June:
Birmingham Bulldogs v Gloucestershire Warriors
Derby City v Bristol Sonics
Leicester Phoenix v Telford Raiders
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Chris Wilson
Media Manager, Gloucestershire Warriors RLFC
Tel: +44 (0)1684 850903
Mobile: + 44 (0)7905 931033
Email: gloswarriors2004@aol.com
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The Gloucestershire Rugby League is an organisation for local rugby league clubs in Gloucestershire. Our main activity currently is to promote rugby league through the County and give useful information about our sport to the public of Gloucestershire.
