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| Fletcher: 'Take The Points And Move On' |
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| Falcons No.8 Brent Wilson takes the ball up |
| 6 January 2008, 8:10 pm |
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| Newcastle boss John Fletcher was happy with the four points, if not the performance, as his Falcons side snatched a 15-12 Guinness Premiership victory over Worcester at Kingston Park on Sunday. |
A late Jonny Wilkinson drop goal saved the day for the Falcons, with Fletcher stating afterwards: “We know we can play much better than that, but I'm pleased with the points and the character shown by the team today in closing out what was a very tight game.
“There are big parts of the performance that we need to look at, because they were well below the standards we have set ourselves, but to do that from a winning position is always better.
“We're well aware that we have to play significantly better than this to keep up our winning momentum in the league, but winning ugly at times is not a bad skill to have.”
Highlighting the areas for improvement, he said: “Some of our precision was very poor, we were sloppy getting the ball away from the breakdown and just never really got started.
“Worcester clearly came with a gameplan to slow down our ball as much as they could, and you'd have to say it worked because we just weren't at the races in attack.
“We wouldn't have had too much to grumble about if Worcester had edged it in the end, because they made life difficult and created more scoring chances than us.
“Having said that, we were always in the game and they kept giving us opportunities to kick three points with the way they constantly killed the breakdown, so what you have to do is just take those points when they're on offer.”
With the home forwards playing a huge role in closing out a tight Guinness Premiership encounter, Fletcher said: “We just couldn't get enough momentum with the ball in hand to create scoring chances, but fair play to the forwards because they did their job and kept us in it by really grinding it out against a very strong Worcester pack.
“Our commitment and our never-say-die attitude, especially at the end, were shown to be good traits, and those are all areas where we have been found wanting in the past.
“Last season Worcester were shoving us all over the place in the driving mauls, scoring five or six pushovers in the two games, but I thought today we coped well in that area.
“In terms of getting width and pace on to the game, probing space, then it didn't go to plan today, but we'll just take the points and move on.”
With skipper Jamie Noon having withdrawn from the team prior to kick-off, Fletcher explained: “Jamie called me yesterday to say one of his kids had been taken to hospital after having an accident, and having spoken to him again this morning it was clear that the best thing was to pull him out of the game.
“Being the top pro that he is, Noony was prepared to get on and play, but having had a good chat with him we both agreed that his focus should be on his family.”
One man who did play, however, was match-winner Wilkinson, with Fletcher stating: “Jonny can play the game in lots of ways.
“His preferred style is to play with lots of pace and width, pushing the ball around and creating spaces, but sometimes you get a day like today where you just need to kick your goals and manage the game tactically in a different way.
“He kicked well all afternoon, and struck his drop goal magnificently at the end to ensure a valuable result.” |
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