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Search forDawe encouraged by side's display against Neath
Monday, August 25, 2008, 07:00
The pre-season friendly, which came just a week before Albion kick-off their 2008/09 National Division One season, was a hard-fought affair.
But the hosts produced an encouraging performance – including outscoring Neath two tries to one – to claim a morale-boosting win over a Welsh All Blacks team who beat Premiership outfit Saracens 43-18 earlier this month.
"It was a great workout and fair play to Neath, they brought a lot to the game," said Dawe.
"They brought lots of endeavour, spirit, skill, speed and passing.
"But we showed a lot of endeavour to not only get the two tries, but to also hold our try-line intact, all bar being broken once.
"We held firm at the end although the boys' will be asking themselves some questions because it was wave after wave (of Neath attacks) the last 20 minutes.
"But it was the sort of test you want really and, hopefully, it will give the players some encouragement for the future.
"It was a good game of rugby."
Albion gave five players – full-back Tom Jarvis, scrum-half Greg Nicholls, prop James Tideswell, lock Arthur Brenton and winger Justin Mensah-Coker – their debuts.
Nicholls had a big part to play in their first try, Mensah-Coker helped set-up Jarvis for the second and both skipper Brenton and Tideswell contributed to the victory.
Dawe admitted he was pleased with the quintet's contribution.
"Five players made their debuts – two in the forwards – and they are integral parts of the team," said Dawe.
"They all played their part – Tom scored a try, while Justin is a pretty smooth operator at this level as you would expect."
The one dampener for Albion from Saturday's match was injuries to back-row forwards Kyle Marriott and Jake Childs.
Both have looked impressive in the early stages of Saturday's encounter.
An ankle injury led to Marriott leaving the pitch on 23 minutes, although he could be fit for Saturday's league opener at home to Coventry.
However, a more serious looking shoulder injury for Jake Childs in the first minute of added-on time in the first half means he is likely to be unavailable.
"To lose two players is tough, especially both back-row players," said Dawe.
"Jake will not feature against Coventry on Saturday.
"But, hopefully, Kyle's injury is not as serious as Jake's."
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