Gazette Sport

'Stoke hit their stride at just the right time

By John Boyman

8:00am Friday 27th January 2012

BASINGSTOKE RFC head coach James Croker thinks his side have hit top form at just the right time heading into a crucial stage of the season.

The Down Grange club have won their last four games, recording bonus point victories in their last three, and beat Thanet 43-17 on Saturday.

“I’d say that in terms of back to back games, the last couple of weeks is the best we have played all season,” Croker said.

“We played really well in the first half against Sidcup but took our foot off the gas so as far as sustained form game after game goes, this is our best patch.”

The run has seen ’Stoke move up to fourth in the London One South table, just two points off second, and this week’s home game against Dover (kick-off 3pm) will be followed by a vital trip to league leaders Chichester.

Croker said: “We are still in contention and have the other three big sides still to play so it is down to us and that is a good place to be in.

The Chichester game is the first of three big games against the other top teams. We have to take these opportunities and we look forward to doing that.

“We have got some momentum but we are taking it one game at a time.

“At the moment, the league is going to form and we have just got to keep applying the pressure.”

Dover have not been in great form of late, but moved up to ninth in the table with a comprehensive 52-7 victory over bottom side Sutton and Epsom last week.

Basingstoke won 28-20 when they made the long trip to Kent back in October – but it was not a vintage performance by ’Stoke, who gave away numerous penalties and made a lot of handling errors.

“Dover did not impress me in the first game and we did not play well,” Croker admitted. “We need to make sure we get out of the blocks quickly and then in the last half an hour we have been going away from teams through fitness and discipline of shape, so the plan will not change.

“We need to keep the penalty count low, use our home advantage and play at the right pace and tempo. If we do that, it should be a good bonus point win. We will be looking for a good performance in front of a big crowd.”

Basingstoke will be without second row Matt Brougham and flanker Matt Horne due to work commitments, while centres Freddie Gleadowe and Callum Staff are also out.

However, captain Neil Young and full-back Ceri Cummings are set to return to the side.

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