By Chris Gleadell
February 27 2009

So very near but ultimately so far for the Saints in the loss against the Wasps of Wycombe at Adams Park on Sunday. The 9-5 scoreline suggests a close game but in all honesty the Saints, given the amount of possession and territory they had should have had the victory in the bag well before the final whistle. People may point at the, for once, wayward boot of Stephen Myler as the architect

Chris Gleadell's"Thoughts from the Chron"

February 26th 2009

of the downfall but there were half a dozen or more handling errors incrucial areas of attack that were probably just as contributable to thedefeat. That the officials might have handled some things differentlywas also a factor but the truth is we should have had plenty in thetank to not let that become the central talking point it became.

However it was not all doom and gloom in my eyes, in fact far from it.Despite the loss and the frustration that we had perhaps blown theopportunity for a first win at High Wycombe I came away from the gamegreatly heartened by what I had seen. Let’s not forget this is theWasps side that put thirty plus points on Leicester Tigers the weekbefore and one who has just started to put a vein of form together fortheir traditional last minute dash for the line. Yet apart from thelast few minutes we never really let them have a sniff of our line allafternoon and even then the defence held firm till the end.

As I mentioned last week we mostly travelled in hope rather thanexpectation but it was Saints not Wasps who were more often than not inthe ascendancy and looked like the more rounded side with ball in hand.And when push came to shove in the nitty gritty Saints showed that theywere not for bullying and despite some quite clear at times goading bythe opposition to our players (and one in particular) there was nothingto suggest Wasps were going to get the upperhand in this area. Indeed asly dig late on by old warhorse Simon Shaw on young Courtney Lawes thatwas returned in kind, and with interest, summed up the attitude of thelads that if Wasps wanted to dish it out they had to be prepared totake it. For those that were at the Harlequins game at the Stoop threeweeks earlier the difference in the effort, application and for want ofa better word nous between the teams representing the Saints on thosetwo occasions was immense. In fact you would have not thought they werefrom the same club.

So yes no win but as a unit I think the team took a sizable stepforward on Sunday. While I know the doom merchants will cling to thecold hard fact of that scoreline and say the Saints failed on theirtravels again in my mind if they say success is a journey not adestination then I think collectively we travelled a fair bit more downthat road at the weekend, victory or not. On another day those passeswould have stuck and Smylers radar would have been back on beam andwhen that happens someone along the line will be on the receiving endof a real tonking from us. Forget the score, with fine tuning, we arestarting to shape up as a very good team. The rest will come in time,have faith.

The support was in good voice too. I would guess there were probablyover a thousand of us there but certainly apart from a few ‘Oggy, Oggy,Oggies’ from the home crowd it was the Saints fans that could be heardthe most. The team say they appreciate the effort and it does lift themnot only at home but on their travels, which brings me to Worcester.Given Sundays showing the lads must surely be in with a great chance ofrecording their first Guinness Premiership win on the road at Sixwayson the 7th of March. Support that day could be vital so I would urgeall that can get there to make the effort and travel down to Worcesterto sing your hearts out. It may well be a turning point.

NEWCASTLE

Before that trip to Worcester though there is the visit of NewcastleFalcons to the Gardens on Saturday. Given our record at home andNewcastle’s league position it would normally look like a banker forthe Saints for those who like a flutter. However it may not quite bethe cakewalk predicted.  The Falcons appear to have upped the ante overthe last couple of weeks. A home win over Saracens last weekend waspreceded by a very comprehensive demolition of Bristol at the MemorialGround. Bristol may be the bottom club but their game against theFalcons, just a place above them at the time, was in some respectstheir last throw of the dice in staying up and surviving in thedivision. The manner of the defeat makes you think that maybe Newcastlemight cause us more problems than we first envisaged and lads will haveto be at the top of their game to prevail. Having said that I thinkthey will be. They know they let a great chance slip through theirfingers at Wasps and I have a sneaking suspicion that should we startwell the visitors might well reap the whirlwind.

The boys might also have an added incentive on Saturday. Not countingany chickens just yet but the last time we lost a league game at homewas on March 3rd 2007 when Gloucester edged a tight game 5-7. With ournext home game after Saturday coming on the 14th of March against Saleif we should win on Saturday it will be two clear years since theSaints lost at the Gardens in a competitive game. And yes whilst I knowa year of that was out of the top flight it still means a full year ofrugby undefeated against top opposition. Take a look at the stats ofthe other Guinness Premiership club that is something that does nothappen too often anymore. There will of course be a few more testsalong the way before the season ends, especially as three of the topfour sides still have to visit us, but should we turn over the Falconson Saturday in a small way at least that feat should be celebrated.