Greenslade-Jones’ men maintain perfect start with Swindon win
Head coach Rory delighted with number nine Phil Hellmuth who scored a hat-trick at Pavilion
Despite some unforced changes, a few injuries, and a lack of knowledge on their opposition, Marlow RFC emerged victorious yet again on Saturday, beating Swindon College Old Boys, 3119, away.
The win is Marlow’s fourth of the season and lifts them into second place in the Counties 1 Tribute Southern North division ahead of this weekend’s top-of-the-table clash with High Wycombe.
Speaking to the Advertiser earlier this week, head coach Rory Greenslade-Jones had nothing but praise for his men who went into the encounter unaware of their opponents.
He also gave a special mention to Phil Hellmuth and Mike Abbott who have formed a formidable partnership and been a considerable factor in Marlow’s success so far this season.
“It was always going to be a challenging task down at Swindon College
Old Boys. We didn’t know what to expect as we’ve never played them before,” said Greenslade-Jones.
“We rocked up there and found out they play on the Nationwide Pavilion, so we were excited before the start, and they were also a very welcoming club.
“Onto the game, we did have some unforced changes and a couple of injuries. There were also a couple of boys we wanted to try.
“With all that in mind, we played very well.
“They had some old boys that caused us some problems in the breakdown – that area was quite difficult for us to manage.
“But, in the end, we got another really good win.”
Greenslade-Jones added: “I think our continuity at nine and 10 has helped a lot this season. That’s been key. It’s often quite hard to get those
players playing consistently and creating a partnership but I think we’ve managed to do this really well.
“Phil at number nine has been outstanding for us. He scored a hat-trick on Saturday and was probably the difference. He’s got himself exceptionally fit this year and is making some beautiful line breaks. He’s really putting teams to the sword.
“We’ve got Mike at 10. He’s a new
signing for us and he’s kicked quite a lot of points for us. His ball in hand play is very good and he’s good defensively.”
Greenslade-Jones added: “Also, there have been a couple of outstanding performances by Bruno Renucci at seven.
“He leads the tackle count by a long distance and put in some excellent performances and his body on the line.
“It’s good to have him playing for us aswell.”
On Saturday’s fixture, GreensladeJones said his squad is near enough back to full strength and is relieved it is given how the contest with High Wycombe could play out on home turf.
“It’s a local derby. There’s no love lost between the two teams. It’s always a bruising encounter,” he said.
“It can go either way on the day so as long as we turn up in the right frame of mind and we do the right things at the right time then I am sure we can come away with another win.
“Hopefully we can win the battle up front. Our set piece and breakdown will need to be on point because ultimately, if you can’t win those, you will struggle.
“We are near enough back to full strength this week. We’re looking to go out there, win all the collisions, really impose ourselves, and build a score.”
High Wycombe sit in fifth place in the league with three wins and one loss.
That defeat surfaced at the weekend from home side Thatcham (28-15).
Prior to that, Mike Kirby’s men had beaten Swindon College Old Boys (477), Reading Abbey (18-19), and Milton Keynes (32-11).
W In the Regional 2 Thames league, Windsor dropped to the bottom of the table after a disappointing 31-10 defeat to Beaconsfield.
Beaconsfield and Windsor have both struggled for form this season losing all four of their previous matches, however, the hosts managed to get their acts together in this one to inflict another damaging defeat on Andy Symons' men. Windsor now have a couple of weeks to lick their wounds ahead of their home game with Cobham on Saturday, October 15.