Milton Keynes v St Neots

With a welcomed break in the wet weather we was happy to see the sun shining as we traveled down the A421 to Milton Keynes!

This was a unknown for us as we have never played MK before so everyone was excited for the game ahead, hoping to bring the many lessons learnt from the previous weeks into todays game.

Today we traveled with good numbers meaning the boys could get some well needed rest throughout the game and we welcomed a couple of players to their first game as a Saint!

As normal the Saints were slow to start, letting MK strike quickly and score a few tries in quick succession. MK passed the ball around well and hit our defence hard often breaking though to get the ball down over the line.

The forwards tried hard to get the pod’s forming but often being left short leaving the rucks to be easily contested which MK did strongly. Some controversial decisions went against us but the lads kept very professional and kept there heads held high!

As we headed into the second half a few chances started to appear on the outsides for the backs after good work by the forwards but some good defensive play by our opponents made it really hard for us to break through!

The Saints tackle confidence finally started to improve and some good effective tackles were being completed, unfortunately our ruck speed didn’t match that of our opponents and they managed to turn over many of our rucks.

As the scored stopped being counted we agreed to carry on to work on our team play. We got the boys together and gave them a target for the last quarter. We asked them to show us a improvement in the defensive line and tackles.

Unfortunately the game finished without the Saints getting on the score board but we did see an improved defensive line and a improvement in the amount of tackles being completed in that last quarter, which was exactly what we asked of them.

Another tough game but the small little takeaways will help the team. As always we are super proud of the boys for battling right until the final whistle no matter the score and always being professional and respectful to their teammates, the officials and also the opponents. Great team spirit and well recognised by the other coaches!

Well done to MK and thank you for hosting us. We wish MK all the best for the season and look forward to a return visit.

A big Well done to the 2 new players who played their first game today! Great determination and we look forward to you both becoming more permanent fixtures within the team.

Well done to the players of the week.

Forward of the week - Jenson (2).
Back of the week - Matty (12)