Havant chief refuses to panic after third successive defeat

Will Knight insists there is no need to panic after Havant suffered a third successive London one south defeat losing 67-26 at Brighton on Saturday.
Jerome Trail scored twice against Brighton. Picture: Neil MarshallJerome Trail scored twice against Brighton. Picture: Neil Marshall
Jerome Trail scored twice against Brighton. Picture: Neil Marshall

The head coach is adamant his staff and players will come up with the solutions to get the Hooks Lane squad back on track.

But he acknowledges speed is of the essence.

Knight said: '˜We are all scratching our heads a little after starting with three heavy defeats.

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'˜There is a lot we need to fix and we need to do it quickly.

'˜We have not become a bad side overnight.

'˜Having got ourselves into a bit of a rut we have to get ourselves out of it.

'˜There is no doubt we have a squad that is under pressure at the moment.

'˜We need to get some confidence because when we do play our rugby we are dangerous.

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'˜This is shown by the fact in two of our games we have picked up four-try bonus points.

'˜There is a lot of soul searching going on for the players who are an honest group.'

For the second successive game Havant endured a torrid start.

They found themselves on the back foot after conceding 26 points in almost as many minutes.

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Hooker Jerome Trail got the visitors on the scoresheet after half an hour with the first of his two tries.

Will Owen produced a big tackle and scrum-half Jake Hewitt put in a kick-and-chase.

Trail was on his shoulder to receive the scoring pass.

Brighton remained dominant, though, and led 45-7 at the break.

In the second period, Havant scored further tries through Trail, Harrison Young and Fraser Bruce, who was making his senior debut.

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'˜In many ways it is an extraordinary start for us having to play all our games away from home,' said Knight.

'˜We won't use that as an excuse, however. It is down to us making too many individual errors or taking poor decisions.

'˜We are falling off too many first-up tackles. Brighton scored a number of tries out wide and that shouldn't happen if you get your defensive organisation right.

'˜It is something we are not used to. It is a new experience for us. But we will face the problem head on.

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'˜The first part is taking the defeats on the chin and the second part is doing something about it.

'˜The only way we can turn it around is through hard graft on the training ground.

'˜As we get more bodies back in contention that will also give us more options.

'˜We are finding a lot of clubs have stepped up this season and that just adds to the challenge.'