Local rugby
BROADSTREET head coach Paul Hurst says a first National Two South win is very close for his newly-promoted team.
After returning to English rugby’s fourth tier at the end of last season, Street are winless after four rounds of action.
However, Hurst believes their last-gasp 32-35 defeat at the hands of Clifton was a case of small margins.
“We let two tries slip in the first ten minutes through basic errors – one in defence and the other from a misplaced pass,” he said.
“Apart from that we were always in the game up to halftime, and after that we really came out firing until we got another yellow card which cost us.
“We probably should have won, and I’m more upbeat than in previous weeks because we implemented everything we’d worked on in the previous week’s training during the game.
“You can’t prepare for errors, and that’s what’s killing us at the moment, but there are a lot of positives to build on.
“We’re a young squad and if we keep working hard in training we’ll keep improving.”
Discipline is proving a difficult area for Street currently, which Hurst says his team must quickly adapt to the higher standards set by National League referees.
“Chris Zutic was warned several times before he was yellow-carded, and I did consider taking him off, but was a couple of minutes too late,” he said.
“It’s a massive step-up from last year, and we’re realising that every error is punished at this level and we’re under our posts.”
Street’s point on Saturday came as a result of tries from Nyle Beckett, Nick Thatcher, James Moreton and Josh Nott, to which Clifton responded through Finlay Sharp, Rhys Luckwell, a Callum Roberts double and a late winner from James Stephenson.
Three of Broadstreet’s scores were converted by Cliffie Hodgson, who also kicked two penalties, and their head coach believes the arrival at the Ivor Preece Field of the former Cov skipper has provided a real boost.
“Cliffie coming in as playercoach has really helped, and even after two training sessions with him our backs have shown improvement,” Hurst said.
“He’s still a fantastic player too, and he’s brought a more professional outlook with him from Coventry.”