Scorpions coach sees positives
South Wales Scorpions coach Dave Clark saw a lot of positives and negatives in his sides 36-all draw with Oldham Roughyeds in their first Northern Rail Cup group game last Sunday.
The Scorpions now host “local rivals” London Skolars at The Gnoll this Sunday (kick-off 3pm) in the hope of picking up their first win to keep them in contention for a quarter-final spot and Clark says that the players will be working hard to turn a draw into a win against the team from the English capital.
“It would have been nice to get all three points but we didn’t lose and that’s the main thing, we got something out of it,” Clark said. “We’ll get the video out and highlight things that we need to work on – obviously we’ll keep that in-house. I think the boys know that they could have done a lot better in the second half and their heads were down after the game. We’ll get our heads back up on Tuesday night and have a video session highlighting things that we need to improve on. I’m sure we can improve quite easily.”
Clark was pleased at the 849 crowd that attended the game, the Scorpions’ second all-time best attendance.
“It was great to see a large crowd and hopefully they’ll keep on coming,” he said. “I know there’s been a lot of work done in the community and in schools so it was really good to see so many people turn out after everyone’s hard work to promote the game. I understand it was the Scorpions’ second highest crowd ever which is magnificent. I’m glad we put on a show for them, 12 tries in a game would be entertaining for anyone and hopefully we can continue that entertainment throughout the year.”
The Scorpions take on a Skolars side who will have come off the back of a 50-16 loss to Batley Bulldogs in their first Northern Rail Cup game but Clark has said that like Oldham this week, their opponents will be looking to bounce back.
“London are always competitive,” he said. “They often seem to be struggling at the bottom end of the table but I’m sure they’ll turn that around this year and give us some good competition next week. It’ll be a big challenge for us to turn our result around and work hard this week which I’m sure we will do and give a good performance next week.”
The winners of the Scorpions’ schools competition for the most fans at the game was Crynallt Junior School where almost a quarter of the children were at the game according to forms and tickets handed in at the gate.
Based in the Cimla area of Neath, the school will now receive a free Rugby League coaching session from the Scorpions at a date to be arranged.
Admission to South Wales Scorpions v London Skolars this Sunday at The Gnoll in Neath costs just £12 for adults, £7 concessions, £3 for children aged 12 and over and free for those aged 11 and under.
