'Stoke set for clash of the titans (From Basingstoke Gazette)

'Stoke set for clash of the titans

1:00pm Friday 3rd February 2012 in Rugby By John Boyman

BASINGSTOKE RFC head coach James Croker says his side will learn from their mistakes as they look to gain revenge on London One South leaders Chichester.

The Sussex side grabbed a last-gasp try to win 10-6 at Down Grange back in October, but ’Stoke are determined to keep their title hopes alive by upsetting the table-toppers in the return match on Saturday (kick-off 2.15pm).

Croker said: “Win-ning the league is our aspiration and we must win to keep ourselves in with a chance.

“But if it does not happen, we will refocus and go for the play-off place.”

He added: “It is going to be a good game.

“These big games are why we do what we do and we are just trying to keep the guys calm and focused on what we are doing. The top four in the table are all evenly matched, and on their day, anyone can beat anyone else.

“We need to make sure we keep applying the pressure and win the big games we need to win.

“They are not better than us. We are evenly matched and I am confident that if we play our best rugby we can get the win.”

Croker’s confidence is well-founded as ’Stoke go into the game on the back of five successive wins, having suffered just one defeat in 10 outings.

However, Chichester have also won their last five matches to move five points clear at the top of the table – and they will take heart from their victory at Down Grange earlier in the season.

Croker, right, has drawn upon his side’s performance in that match to come up with a three-point plan for success.

“The game will be won and lost by whether we get drawn into a forwards battle or concentrate on our patterns,” he said. “Last time, we were over-respectful, which meant we stopped them but never got our own game going.

“This time, we need to turn that on its head.

“We will be cautious and respectful but must cause them problems when we get the ball.

“We also need to make sure that we keep the penalty count down because that gave them the opportunity to kick for the corners and get their maul going last time.

“The other important thing for us is ball retention.

“We need to make sure that when we have the ball we look after it.

“If we can do all of those things we will be in with a shot. I have no doubt it will be a close game and we just need to concentrate on doing the basics well.”

Basingstoke warmed up for the big clash with a 21-14 victory over Dover at Down Grange on Saturday. Despite failing to secure a four-try bonus point, and not playing as well as they have of late, Croker thinks it may prove to be a good thing in the long run.

“It was not a great performance by any stretch of the imagination, but we kept the winning run going and to do that without playing well is a big testament to us,” he said.

“It was perhaps the shock that we needed because we have been playing well, but now we need to refocus, which is not a bad thing.”

’Stoke will welcome back influential centre Freddie Gleadowe, meaning Croker has a difficult decision to make in the back three, with one of Ceri Cummings, Ash Paterson, Chris May-Miller and Gareth Kelly set to miss out.

Flanker Ryan Davis will not play due to work commitments, leaving James Saunders and the returning Matt Horne to fight it out for his place. Prop Ollie John is also unavailable but second row Jake Henderson is back in contention.