Pattinson refuses to press panic button after defeat
Windsor RFC coach Jack Pattinson stressed there’s no need to panic after Saturday’s 20-10 defeat to Beaconsfield saw the Royals fall to 11th in the South West 1 East table.
The Royals have been chasing down Beaconsfield in recent weeks, and had moved to within a couple of points of them ahead of their visit to Home Park on Saturday.
The home side also came into the game off the back of a magnificent 21-20 away win at Royal Wootton Bassett, so confidence should have been brimming ahead of kick-off.
However, for once this season the Royals were guilty of failing to do their homework on their rivals as they fell into the same traps of their previous meeting, which Beaconsfield also won 39-32.
Reflecting on another frustrating defeat, Pattinson said: “We definitely had opportunities where we could’ve scored points, but I have to give credit to Beaconsfield.
“They taught us a lesson at the start of the season with just a couple of things we struggled to adapt to. And to be honest, it was a bit of a repeat which was what I was quite frustrated with. We just hadn’t learnt those lessons.
“My initial feeling after the game was frustration because it was an opportunity for us to move the highest in the table we’ve been all season.
“But when you get home, had a bit of dinner and a glass of wine, you get a bit of a perspective that actually, we’ve been on a really good run of form.
“We’ve got 21 points out of a possible 30 and we’ve really turned a corner in the last seven or eight weeks. While we want to win every single week, it’s just a bit of a reality check and it just refocuses the mind. We’re not in a dreadful position at all, we’re in a
Ref:132246-7 good place. There’s going to be highs, there’s going to be lows.
“We’ll just roll with the punches, it wasn’t a hard day and we’ll go again. There’s no need to panic, just get a bit of perspective and get back to what we’ve been doing well.”
Pattinson is confident the Royals will remain in the division, and not get dragged back down into a relegation scrap. And he’s set the side another little points target to meet from their next four matches. After a week’s break they’ll get back to action at Salisbury on February 1.
“I think the concentration for us is getting 12 points from the next four games and then we will just reassess,” added Pattinson.
“But we’re itching to get back out there to be honest. I was going to give the boys the whole week off but they came back to me on Saturday night and said how they wanted to right today’s wrong.
“I’ve got to give credit to the boys in terms of how they’ve responded. We just want to right the wrongs and play again but we will have to wait.”