Thursday, 9 May 2013

Clark wants Scorpions to shake off their second half deficiencies

South Wales Scorpions coach Dave Clark has pointed to his side’s tendencies to let first half leads slip over recent fixtures as an area they have to improve.

They travel to Gateshead Thunder this Sunday with their hosts buoyed by a an impressive win over Gloucestershire All Golds last time out, and Clark knows that his side have to improve their mental strength if they aren’t to suffer a similar fate.

The Scorpions lost to London Skolars last weekend after leading at half-time and for the second week in a row their second half performance dipped below the standards set by their offering in the opening period.

“We have to move forward after that defeat,” he said. “Last week I think we were quite dominant in attack but we didn’t defend their big pack as well as we should have done.

“But it’s mentally we have to improve as well. For the last couple of games, we’ve been in front at half-time and then we’ve not done well in the second half. We need to close down the game and do things right for the whole game, not give away too many penalties and just be a bit tougher.

“We know we’ll have to play well against Gateshead to win, we almost lost up there last season. We didn’t pick up any injuries last week so we’ll have the same squad up for selection.”

Gateshead coach Kevin Neighbour wants his side to replicate their impressive display over Gloucestershire against the Scorpions. He said: “If we do the right things, as we did against Gloucester, then we have to be in with a chance.”

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