(Image permission: Keith & Jenny Davies)
LANCASHIRE, UK – Deeside Dragons head into another weekend in Moralee D1 hoping to find a way of improving what has been a testing season for the club so far.
The Dragons currently sit bottom of the table having lost nine out of ten games this term and their hopes of climbing out of trouble were dealt a big blow earlier this week with the departure of player/coach Scott McKenzie.
Things don’t get any easier with games against Solway Sharks and Sheffield Steeldogs this weekend and forward Chris Jones admits the players are feeling the pressure.
“It’s been a challenging start to the season and we haven’t achieved the results the players and the fans would have wanted,” he said.
“Things got a lot tougher with the departure of our head coach, but the team are all clubbing together and remaining positive about the rest of the season. We’re continuing to work hard in training and we’ve had a real push on improving the morale.
“We want to let the supporters know how important their backing is and hopefully we can start picking up some crucial points.
“We have a very tough weekend coming up against Solway and Sheffield, but we will be trying our best for the supporters and for ourselves and, with a positive approach, things will improve.”
While the Dragons are struggling at the foot of the table, two victories for Sheffield this weekend would take them to the top of the standings.
The Steeldogs host leaders Telford Tigers on Saturday ahead of their visit to North Wales and player/coach Ben Morgan admits the two fixtures present very different challenges.
“It’s difficult to go from a game one night where you are expected to win, to one where it’s a real battle,” he told the Sheffield Star.
“We know in maybe 70% of our games we are expected to win, but when we play the other games we can’t play poorly and expect to win.
“If you look at the players who’ve been with us over the past few years, they’ve been used to going in to 80% of games knowing they’re the underdogs who are going to have to fight for anything.
“Now there’s a culture shift where we need to go out and win games rather than just keep them tight – and that’s difficult both for the experienced guys and the new ones too who haven’t had that pressure before.
“Telford have more strength in depth but if we play with focus and discipline, we can beat them. We only lost on penalty shots in early September, so we’ll be all out to take the win and keep up our strong start in the league.”
WEEKEND FIXTURES
Moralee D1
Saturday
Blackburn Hawks v Solihull Barons
Sheffield Steeldogs v Telford Tigers
Solway Sharks v Deeside Dragons
Sunday
Billingham Stars v Solway Sharks
Deeside Dragons v Sheffield Steeldogs
Nottingham Lions v Solihull Barons
Whitley Warriors v Hull Pirates
Laidler D2
Saturday
Bradford Bulldogs v Deeside Dragons 2
Telford Tigers 2 v Hull Jets
Sunday
Altrincham Aces v Widnes Wild
Hull Jets v Bradford Bulldogs
Sutton Sting v Blackburn Hawks 2
NIHL Autumn Trophy
Saturday
Hull Pirates v Swindon Wildcats
NIHL National Cup
Sunday
Telford Tigers v Basingstoke Bison
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