Bournville’s players have been told that they need to cut out the silly penalties if they are to return to winning ways in National Two West.
Head Coach Matt Price was again left frustrated after Bournville slipped to a seventh straight defeat – 33-10 away at Redruth on Saturday – with the high penalty count against his side in the first-half a major contributory factor.
Conceding penalties in the middle third of the pitch has become a recurring theme for Bourns in recent weeks, costing them hard-won territory and allowing the opposition to convert defence into attack and points.
“In the first-half at Redruth we put them under pressure but our lineout didn’t function and we were not as accurate as we wanted to be,” Price said.
“That meant that we couldn’t launch anything from our set-piece and we hardly played with the ball at all in the first-half.
“We also gave away some silly penalties which put us under pressure. I’d say that 70 or 80 per cent of those penalties were avoidable and came when we were not under pressure.
“I said to the boys after the match that we have got to make a change there because if we continue to give away silly penalties then we are not going to be able to compete at this level.”
Bournville have yet to win away from home this season and return to Avery Fields to face Taunton Titans next Saturday hoping to return to winning ways after three consecutive home defeats before Christmas.
“We need to win our remaining home games and we also need to need to start picking up bonus points again,” Price said.
“We have gone a bit quiet on the try front in recent weeks and we need to do something about that.”
Bournville should have hooker Ben Rhodes available to face Taunton after he was forced to withdraw from the Redruth match through illness.