"I don't wan't to take anything away from Old Elthamians , who were totally ruthless and by far the best side we have faced so far this season to date. We caught them at a time when they are desperate to stay in the promotion hunt, and on today's display, and with Chinnor losing, they have given themselves a really good chance of reaching National One next season. We wish them well. On today's performance alone, they should be operating in the league above, and we, on today's performance alone, without doubt, should be operating in the league below.

"Our preparation for the game was extremely poor and as coaches, and as an administration team, we have to hold our hands up here. We did not give our players any chance of preparing for what was always going to be a very difficult game. Getting the kick off time wrong, the bus company getting their timings and admin wrong, and the decision to give the players the week off during their blank week have all come back to haunt us. Arriving at the ground at 2.19pm for a 2.30pm kick off pretty much sums up our day and shows how bad our preparation was. This is National Two, not Devon Two (with no disrespect to Devon Two) , and we have to ensure that does not ever happen again. We should have learnt our lessons from the Barnes debacle, but clearly haven't. That is not acceptable. London has lots of traffic ...

"The players also need to hold their hands up and say that they weren't good enough for large parts of today. Our defence was almost non existent but more worrying was our reluctance to acknowledge our mistakes, and as a result take the easy option to blame others. This can never ever happen again. We self destructed after 10 minutes of the game, pointing fingers at each other and creating far more faulty processes than we needed, in what was already a 'backs to the wall' scenario. We had energy sappers, and far too many individuals in what has only ever been, and only ever will be, a team sport.

"The individual statistical analysis will be a horror show. However, stats can't identify a lack of heart or a lack of accountability. Nor do they recognise when individuals choose to not commit to a pattern of play , or when they bitch and moan at others.

"The only positive from today would be the performance and National league debut of 18 year old colts captain Dan Armstrong. He looked sharper than his dad ever did (searching for a bite here!), and genuinely looked as if he had played 1st xv rugby all season. An exciting prospect indeed. In fairness, all of the bench added something today.

"Next Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday can't come quick enough so that we can try and put some pride in the jersey for the final four games.

"The school report would have the administration, coaches and players on 'cause for concern'. We have 7 days to address this. We move onwards...."

Regards

Jon
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