SEB Reynolds’ belief in his players’ ability left him frustrated after Rams were beaten 7-5 in a low-scoring National One top-of-the-table clash with Richmond.
In front of a club record Friday Night Lights crowd of 1,829, the hosts suffered a nightmare start as away No. 8 Sam Pim powered over from close range in the fourth minute, Callum Grieve adding the extras.
Richmond dominated the first half both territorially and in possession, but some outstanding home defence ensured it remained 7-0 at the break.
The two sides continued to neutralise each other throughout the next 30 minutes, but the hosts gave themselves hope when replacement Mikey Duda scooped up a loose ball to score with his first touch of the game.
Fraser Honey’s kick drifted wide right, and the Londoners then showed their know-how to shut the game down in the final stages.
Following another narrow defeat at Rotherham Titans a fortnight ago, the Director of Rugby confessed: “It’s fine margins between two solid sides going at each other, but missed opportunities again.
“Credit to Richmond, they produced a controlled game – it wasn’t wide-wide or flowing rugby and was very cagey at times.
“It seemed to move from set-piece to set-piece and when we look back at the video, I feel we’ll see too many errors which ultimately cost us.”
He continued: “The wind in the first half was certainly impactful, the guys felt a little trapped by it and we needed to capitalise on that after the break, but we made errors in the middle third of the park which meant we couldn’t mount lots of pressure.
“When we got down to their line we got the try and I felt we should have taken the game away, but we didn’t and they deserved to win.”
Duda’s try brought an enormous roar which hinted at a dramatic turnaround, but their streetwise opponents held firm leading Reynolds to add: “Mikey had a real impact straight away, pouncing on a ball which spewed out the side. He did well and it was also nice to see Ben Atkins back, I thought he was superb.
“To have him get 30 minutes back on the park will stand him in good stead moving forwards.
“But after the try, Richmond did a very good job retaining the ball, running the clock down and while we got the late turnover, by that time it’s the last minute of the game and then you’re trying to force things in tough conditions.
“We had a little attack, but once again the contact area we coughed up the ball and it’s something we need to look at.”
Defeat leaves Rams three points adrift of Richmond at the summit, yet the Head Coach remained positive and closed by highlighting two clear takeaways from the evening in terms of the record-breaking attendance and defence.
He ended: “I want to give a special mention to the crowd, they came out and supported the players and while it wasn’t our night, we’re all truly grateful.
“The defence was also great. Pressure was building in the first half, and you could argue if Richmond had lost the game, they’d have rued their missed opportunities where they could have gone into half-time, 14, 19 points up.
“It meant we always felt we were in it and that’s where the disappointment lies, with the group of players we’ve got I believe we could have done it in the second half.”
Rams travel to fourth-placed Rosslyn Park next Saturday (3pm).
