Gloucestershire Warriors

With two fixtures remaining in the West of England division, the
Warriors A team will need to win both to ensure a place in the top
three to defend their title. This weekend, the quest starts with a
local derby against Bristol Sonics A at Aretians (1pm).

The Warriors won the home encounter against the Sonics 36-14 in a game
played in a deluge of almost biblical proportions and will need to
repeat that performance to collect the points.

“We’ll travel with hope,” said A Team manager Ben Whincup. “All the
teams in this league are stronger at home than on their travels and
we’ll need to be at our very best to get the points”.

As the A team are due to finish their game, the Warriors first team
will be about to begin a tough assignment as they face the Coventry
Bears second string side. Both sides have some tough games to come and
the division is so wide open that a defeat for either side could
condemn them to bottom spot in the table but the win could see them
challenging for the top two and a place in the championship final.

The Bears earned their first victory of the season when they beat the
Warriors in a free-scoring encounter at Sandyleaze last month but have
been hit by injuries and call-ups to their National Conference 3 side
and their results have been disappointing.

The sides are the bottom two in the table and this weekend’s game has
added spice in that it is not just the wooden spoon they are seeking to
avoid but there are four points at stake owing to the postponement of
the scheduled fixture between the sides in Coventry in May.

“The pressure’s on us,” says Warriors head coach Steve Lee. “We’ve been
playing reasonably well and with a bit more discipline and composure,
we could have had some much better results.

“We need to learn those lessons quickly as we have the playing talent
to do well in this league but we are not applying it.

“The fellas are excited at the prospect of playing for double points
and it will be a huge boost if we can come away with them on Saturday”.