Greevy looks to the positives after heavy defeat

NEW Stratford director of rugby Tom Greevy believes there were plenty of positives on show for his side following a 67-7 opening-day defeat to Newbury Blues on Saturday.

A Blues side widely tipped to be among this season’s title contenders in South West 1 East blew the Black and Whites away, scoring 11 tries at Pearcecroft.

Si Greenwood, one of six debutants in the Stratford side, scored the home side’s only try of the day, converted by Nath Geekie.

With the club having signed a number of new faces over the summer, this was very much an experimental Stratford XV and Greevy insists his team will bounce back stronger.

Aside from Greewnwood, Michael Cates, Fraizer Kiff, Jonny Smith, Seb May and Scott Harman all made their debuts and Greevy said: “Saturday was a tough game.

The lads put in a good effort and a number of them made their senior debuts, which is excellent.

“Our line-outs went well and we managed to breach them a number of times, which was good to see.

“Newbury were a good side who possessed a much bigger pack and a much more experienced team all round.

“We struggled to adapt to the opposition, but we learnt a lot and we’ll be expecting to do better.”

Stratford face another tough test on Saturday with a visit to Old Centralians, who won 31-28 at Salisbury on the opening day.