Marlow captain Hellmuth says Grasshoppers were flattered by scoreline

Marlow head coach Rory Greenslade-Jones.

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Captain Phil Hellmuth has been reflecting on Marlow’s start to life in the Regional 2 Thames Division after they picked up their second win of the season at the weekend.

Rory Greenslade-Jones’ men overcame Grasshoppers, 31-38, at Syon Lane on Saturday and, as a result, climbed up to eighth in the table.

Afterwards, Hellmuth said the scoreline flattered the Gs, accepting the side had frittered away too many points after conceding penalties - something they were also guilty of in the 28-36 home defeat to Belsize Park on September 23.

Fortunately, the club now has a rest weekend and time to iron out some of those issues before they return to action against Leighton Buzzard at Riverwoods on October 14.

“It looks like a close game against Grasshoppers, but it’s one of those where we let them back into it to end with that kind of score. I think it has flattered them a little bit,” said Hellmuth. “We went into the game after a disappointing outing against Belsize Park. We were strong in the first 20 minutes, and we probably should have come back to draw but we gave a lot of penalties away. Against Grasshoppers, we had in our minds that our discipline needs to be on form and we have to try and get into that mental space of staying calm when things get a bit hectic.

“We started off strong. We got the first try and were showing a lot of promise but it was quite early on in the game that we started giving away penalties again. Fortunately, we started running in some points and I think we deservedly held the advantage at half-time. In the second half, we scored two tries back-to-back which put us in a pretty good spot. Towards the end of the game, Grasshoppers got back into it through some more penalties we gave away. We picked up a yellow card too and someone had to go to the sin bin.

“I think there has definitely been a big step up from the league we were in last season. Some of the teams last year, you could probably go against and relax a little bit, not have to worry too much about that mental side of the game.

“We played teams last year that you could easily put 30 points on in the space of 20 minutes and then be able to hold if you start playing badly.

“In this league, if you play bad or start giving away penalties in the game, the teams will punish you for it. That’s exactly what happened at Belsize Park and almost happened against Grasshoppers.

“The standard is a lot higher but I think we’re capable of dealing with it. We are putting in some good performances and we’ve not shied away from any of the harder contact or the different pace of the game.

“There is definitely a case now of figuring out how to be consistent. That’s a big problem with us at the minute. [I think we’ve got some] individual brilliance in the team, it’s just trying to get that to come together and be consistent.”

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Windsor were unable to make it three victories in a row in the Counties 1 Tribute Southern North as they fell to a 33-18 defeat to Bletchley.

Andy Symons’ men hold onto their place in third ahead of a clash with second-placed Oxford Harlequins 2nds at Home Park on Saturday, October 14.