Birmingham Solihull urged to respect struggling Waterloo

Apr 3 2009 by Brian Dick, Birmingham Mail

BEES have been warned they must take their next opponents, Waterloo, every bit as seriously as their showdowns with promotion rivals Redruth and Cambridge at the end of the season.

Backs coach Eugene Martin has told his table-topping charges they must pay National Two’s whipping boys the respect they deserve following their shock win over Stourbridge last weekend.

That victory over the Stourton Park outfit was just ‘Loo’s third of a dire campaign and Martin reckons they will come to Sharmans Cross Road tomorrow intent on a fourth.

For that reason, the New Zealander, who has been looking after the side in Russell Earnshaw’s absence, has briefed the B&S squad that they must not go looking for tries without doing the work first.

“We have got a structure here and we all need to keep to it,” Martin says. “If a player goes away from it, that means they are being an individual – we have stressed that to the guys. If we stick to our processes, everything else will take care of itself.”

They will also have the pressure of leading the division for the first occasion this season. Bees’ solid victory at Cinderford last Saturday, combined with Redruth’s slip at Tynedale, saw them hit the front at the perfect time.

“Someone came into the changing room last Saturday and said Redruth had lost without a bonus point, but everyone just shrugged and said it didn’t change anything,” Martin said. “This game is as important to us as any other and it’s vital we don’t slip up.”

The chances will be reduced if Cameron Mitchell and Scott Young can be reunited in the centres.

Both pulled out of last Saturday’s match with shoulder and hamstring problems respectively and Mitchell is almost certain to return, though Young may be protected for the trip to Launceston.