Improving Westcliff plot centenary success

WESTCLIFF head coach Danny Johnson believes they’ve laid strong foundations for next season after a difficult campaign saw them finish 15th in National 2 South.

The Essex-based club survived relegation due to the RFU’s decision to restructure both National 2 leagues and turn them into three separate leagues – West, East, North, with 14 teams in each.

Westcliff lost their first 18 games and endured heavy defeats by over 80 points against Clifton, Old Albanians and Esher, in what was a miserable first half of the season.

However, they secured three wins in the second half of the season including an 18-14 revenge win over OAs to move the club off the bottom of the table.

Johnson said: “It was a difficult campaign. I took on the role at the end of lockdown last May and arrived to a team that transitioned through a golden generation of players that had got them to National 2 and had recently lost their coach Jacob Ford, who went over to Bury St Edmunds and took a core group of players with him.

“We had a very small squad that was then marred by injuries which made it really challenging. Before Christmas we’d used 54 players.

“We had to restructure how we did things which is always challenging halfway through a season.”

With the club in dire straits, something had to change and Johnson’s side picked up their first win of the season – a relieving 28-20 victory over Barnstaple in February.

He said: “We recruited some players and we became more competitive and put some good performances in. We drew with Canterbury and Worthing at half-time and narrowly lost to Bury St Edmunds and Rochford. We certainly picked up performances and the quality as a club.

“Post-Christmas we picked up a number of bonus points and we beat

Barnstable, OAs and Rochford. After a challenging and transitional campaign, we’ve laid strong foundations to build on moving into next year.”

With next season being the club’s centenary year, Johnson added: “It is a really important season for Westcliff. It’s taken 96 years to get to national level and it’s our plan to stabilise the club here. We need to make sure we’re competitive at a level that reflects the size of the club.”