Third attempt (From This Is Wiltshire)

Third attempt

8:00am Wednesday 17th March 2010 in

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THIRD place is the best Swindon College Old Boys can hope for after Saturday’s 30-0 home defeat to Broadmoor Staff, according to manager Martin Peaple.

Peaple was left frustrated by his side’s failure to turn early pressure into points as the visiting league leaders eventually asserted their authority on the Berks/Bucks & Oxon Premier clash.

Now the Old Boys boss has relinquished any hope of his side clawing their way back into the top two, instead turning his mind to securing third spot from the four-way challenge of Drifters, Phoenix, Stow-on-the-Wold and Alchester.

“We have to look at third now and not let it slip,” he said.

“If you look at how tight the division is around the middle, if we have a bad couple of games we could potentially slip from fourth to seventh.

“A big win against Harwell would be the perfect way of bouncing back and setting up a good finish to the season.”

After a phenomenal opening quarter to the season, Old Boys fell victim to injury and absence from November onwards, and a poor run of results saw their promotion aspirations severely damaged.

But a new year resurgence has shown the ability of College’s first-choice to side to make an impact on their division, and Peaple believes claiming third would be the best way to prepare for the 2010/11 campaign.

“We want to get there to kick off next year on a high,” he said.

“Unfortunately we did not quite have enough players to keep us going this year after we started so well, but everyone has rallied round and to come third would be a great achievement so we need to be aiming for that.”

Peaple was quick to suggest the margin of defeat in Saturday’s encounter was something of an aberration.

Whilst conceding Broadmoor were deserved victors, he claimed his charges warranted a score or two of their own.

“I think 30-0 flattered them a little bit,” said Peaple.

“Our defence held out well and made them work for their space and points.

“The difference was they took their chances and we didn’t.

“In the first 20 minutes we gave away a lot of silly penalties in their 22 in scoring positions.

“We didn’t get the start we needed and that may have cost us in the end.

“But the better team did win on the day, and although I am a little disappointed we did not deserve to lose by that much.”