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2005 Grim Star to new season

Wes did Haven proudWorkington 28- Haven 8
February 13 2005
Haven coach steve McCormack has apologised to the Haven fans following the teams defeat at Workington on Sunday describing it as" embarrasing" and "well below he standards the team has set itself"

And McCormack, who was still smarting from his first defeat by Town as Haven's coach, called on his squad to look at their mental attitudes after the new season got off to a disastrous start with Sunday's defeat by their local rivals.

The playing squad were called in for an extra training session last night following Haven's disappointing defeat , the players were made to analyse their performances from the Derwent Park clash to figure out exactly what went wrong.

McCormack said: "They don't turn into bad players over night but we were beaten in every area, both on and off the field on Sunday. Our mental attitudes were not right after the first 10 minutes and it is something we will put right"

But McCormack insists that his side must focus on themselves and not their opposition. .

"It is all about ourselves, making sure that we improve, and we have to work on what did not go right against Workington," he added.

On the injury front Haven captain Aaron Lester picked up a slight rib injury during the game but he will receive treatment this week and McCormack is confident he will be available for the Barrow clash at the Recre on Sunday, kick off 3pm.

No excuses, this was a very disappointing display by a Haven team who still seem to be dining out on the strength of last seasons successes ,as they lost to a Town team who quite simply wanted it much more than we did .

In a game that was played in a High wind the advantage of the elements was always going to be a factor , or so you thought. It was Haven , facing the gale who started better and took advantage of Towns mistakes to score a try through Steven Wood . The Haven should have gone further ahead when a clean Break by Walsh came to nothing when six points for the Haven looked certain .
After that it was Town who came into the game scoring two tries from dummy half , lack of concentration here from the haven markers , and a further try that owed much to good luck as a high bomb come back off the goal posts leaving the Haven defenders stranded . Two of these scores coming when town only had 12 men on the field after Sione was sin binned after catching Brett McDermott with a haymaker .With Town also landing four goals they led 20-4 at the half but would that be enough as they had to face the gale in the second stanza .

Haven resumed on a positive note and scored a good try through Wesley Wilson to pull the score back to 20-8. However this proved to be the limit of our ambitions as a Town Pack growing in self belief set out to master the conditions and a seemingly rudderless Haven six . Indeed it was the Homesters who finished the stronger with another try late on plus two goals , as a disappointing Haven outfit succumbed to their fate , the final score 28-8 .


There can no complaints from the Haven who turned in a poor display over the 80 minutes , against a Town team who wanted it more than we did. There is plenty for coach McCormack to work on in training this week and it will be interesting to see what changes he rings next week v Barrow ,especially at half back where the Penny /Kirkbride pairing clearly didn't work today
All in all a bad day at the Office and one the team is going to have to put behind then very quickly

No complaints from Haven who were beaten by the Better team on the day
Fielded for the pre season warm up: Broadbent, Wood, Walsh, Seeds, Calvert, Kirkbride, Joe, Penny, Davidson, Sice, McKinney, McDermott, Hill, Lester, Wilson, Seaton, Summers, Fatialofa, Cox.



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