Richardson joy as West stun leaders
West Norfolk Rugby Club boss Nigel Richardson says his players have raised the bar with their weekend win over Wymondham.
After a scoreless first half, West Norfolk went on to stun the league leaders with a 14-8 victory at Gatehouse Lane.
In-form West have now won four of their five games in 2013 and Richardson said: “The players have really raised the bar and set the standard for the remainder of the season.
“But they have to realise that the hard work doesn’t stop now just because they’ve beaten Wymondham.
“It’s important that they continue the good work and build on this result.”
West’s latest Eastern Counties One success didn’t come as a total surprise to Richardson, whose troops still have a realistic chance of finishing in the top three of the table.
“For me, it wasn’t entirely unexpected and I knew we’d give them a good game,” said Richardson.
“We gave them a run for their money at their place earlier in the season and I always felt we could achieve a result against them, especially coming into the match on the back of a really big away win.
“The lads were on a high and full of confidence and perhaps the only surprise is that I expected Wymondham to put more points on the board.”
Richardson, who also praised the efforts of coach Lee Perry, described the victory as one of the best during his three years in charge.
“It certainly was one of the best results since I’ve been in charge,” said Richardson.
“There have been better performances from us in the last three years, but I don’t think there has been a better all-round team display.
“The Wymondham defence were awesome in the first half, but we really worked as a unit and showed a lot of spirit.
“Lee (Perry) has instilled a good solid training regime and has been working the players hard on their weaknesses.”
Saturday’s victory didn’t come without a cost with Nick Bull, one of West’s leading try-scorers this campaign, suffering a double-fracture of his left ankle.
Bull is likely to spend the remainder of the season on the sidelines and Richardson said: “Nick is a lovely lad and everyone at the club wishes him a speedy recovery.”
Richardson said the club will continue to keep faith with the club’s philosphy of blooding-in the younger players.
A number of youngsters played a part in the weekend win over Wymondham after helping West Norfolk achieve a fourth-place finish last term.
Richardson said: “We’ve got some very good youngsters at the club and people were questioning our policy of playing so many last season when we finished fourth
“We lost a number of them to university in the close season, but we still have others who are coming through.”
Next up for West is a trip to Woodbridge in a rearranged fixture on Saturday.
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Weather for King's Lynn
Monday 20 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 9 C to 15 C
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Wind direction: North
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