London Broncos coach Tony Rea. Photo: Lindsey Parnaby/PA
Friday, August 2, 2013
12:21 AM
London coach Tony Rea hailed his side despite a 30-18 defeat to Leeds Rhinos as they restored some pride following a humiliating Challenge Cup exit against Wigan.
The capital club slumped to a record 70-0 semi-final thrashing at the weekend so finding a fourth victory of the Super League campaign was always going to be a tall order, no least against the champions on the occasion of Kevin Sinfield?s 500th appearance.
But after the Rhinos surged into a 12-0 lead early on, the contest then swung to and fro with both sides enjoying waves of pressure.
Leeds scored two tries in the opening 15 minutes, Jamie Peacock and Ben Jones-Bishop crossing, but London hit back with a try through Luke Dorn and then came close to drawing level as they got on the front foot.
Leeds held firm and moved into an 18-6 interval lead when Alex Foster romped home.
Into the second half and it was two tries apiece, Dan Sarginson and Ben Fisher on target for the hosts, only for Paul McShane?s close range double midway through the half to seal the two points.
The reverse leaves London rooted to the bottom of the league with three games to go but Rea hopes it can push his men on to a morale-boosting finish to the campaign.
?It has been an emotionally draining week so I was really pleased with the effort,? the coach said.
?There is no hiding from the fact that we are really hurting as a club, so to produce a performance like that shows character.
?We have just got to stick together and stay strong as a group.
?It is going to be tough for us, but we have got to try and finish the season strongly - that is very important to us.?
And former London coach Brian McDermott, now in charge of Leeds, believed his old club deserved some of the plaudits, admitting his side had not had things their own way.
He said: ?People thought this was going to be easy after what happened to London against Wigan, but that was exactly the game I thought it would be.
?I thought we were in control for the majority of the game, but we were never able to shrug them off.
?It was a fair contest at times and I think London deserve a lot of credit for the way they defended.
?In fact, I thought it was a good game overall in the hottest conditions I have ever encountered, either as a player or coach.?
Robert Guerrero may day 747 crash Kentucky Derby 2013 Barcelona celtics harry connick jr
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.