BRIDGWATER head coach Simon Morrell can’t wait for Saturday’s game at Thornbury to come around, after a week when, in common with many, his side were without a fixture, writes Richard Walsh.

After six matches in South West One (West), Bridgwater & Albion find themselves five from the bottom of the table, and last week they were beaten 13-8 at home by Teignmouth, who Morrell previously coached.

Morrell pulled no punches after last week’s game but he believes there can be positive outcomes from this reverse.

Talking after his two sessions with the Bridgy boys, the head coach said: “It’s always good to report back to training following a frustrating performance and result.

“If handled well, you can get a real sense of purpose out of the group. And that is how this week panned out.

“Credit to the boys, I love their ‘multiplier’ attitude at training.

“The week inevitably started with a productive review. Not necessarily of the performance from the previous Saturday; but more a holistic view of where the group are.

“The honest view from my position is our system/patterns are all very well drilled into the group . . . but they weren’t last week.

“Our approach to the middle third was awful but that was well and truly ironed out this week.

“That said, the systems we have in place are worthless without 100 per cent buy-in for 80 minutes of the game.

“We have seen some really encouraging performances from the group in fits and starts, most notably in the first 20 minutes last week.

“This suggests an elementof ‘switching-off ’ and reverting to ‘type’ is creeping in.

“A good example is our defence last week, which was absolutely heroic at times, marching Teignmouth back 20 yards and dominating the gain line - suffocation for want of a better word.

“But then we let in two of the softest tries all season, as two or three boys ‘switched off ’, breaking every rule in the book in the process.

“Nothing is handed to you at this level - so, roll on Thornbury this weekend.”

  •  NORTH Petherton were also without a match last weekend.

They make the trip to Okehampton to meet fellow mid- tablers in a South West One W fixture