Park hope fortress will hold firm against Hartpury
IN-FORM Rosslyn Park are set to face unbeaten Hartpury College at home next Saturday and coach Scott Sneddon remains confident they can be the first team to crack the university side.
After their win away in the South London derby to Blackheath last week, Park have risen to fifth in National One at have not lost at home since the visit of Moseley on October 15. Since then they’ve gone eight games unbeaten.
Player-coach Sneddon told The Rugby Paper: “It is time to show the top teams that The Rock is our fortress and our target is to keep climbing.
“Four losses at the start of the league in September didn’t put us in a good position and at the end of October we were still 14th.
“Blackheath were really tough but Sam AsplandRobinson made an early break to ensure we came out of the blocks firing, that was the difference and we need to do it next week.”
It’s been a strange season for Park. After ending the last campaign as the form side, they were tipped to be title challengers, but only after a back-room shake up with coach Andy Holloway departing have they started to show some form.
Sneddon added: “Hartpury will be tough, I think they will go up as they can’t throw it away now, they deserve it.
“They have a hybrid fulltime set up and are not just reliant on students. We have to be physical at the breakdown and take it to them with some quick ball.
“In October we talked about getting our fortress back and making a place people did want to come. I’m happy that we have got on a run of home games unbeaten and we need to do it again next week.”
Sneddon confirmedthat knee ligament damage will keep him out for the rest of the season. “It’s my lateral ligament and I’m definitely out for the whole season,” he added. “I might have to have an operation to get it right for pre-season.
“It’s a shame as me and Harry Leonard were looking at playing 10 and 12 but Ollie Grove has come back from a shoulder injury and our backline, which hasn’t been firing as well as it should over the past couple of weeks, now has that competitiveness to get there.”