Tench calls for ruthless streak

​The Linney men survived a second-half rally from Kenilworth last weekend to triumph 26-19 and sit third in the Regional Two Midlands standings.

But the scoreline doesn’t tell the full story of what was a ‘game of two halves’.

Tries from Rhys Perkins, Jack Lines, Jack Small and Raife Hughes, plus three conversions from AJ Rocke, saw Ludlow lead 26-0 at half-time. But rather than kick on and put the game to bed after the break, the hosts had to withstand some late pressure after Kenilworth responded with 19 unanswered points.

"It was a disappointing second half from us,” said Tench. "It was a game of two halves, we started really strong and looked really controlled in everything we were doing.

"We went into half-time and talked around being ruthless and having that killer edge that other teams have got. But unfortunately we are still struggling to find that killer instinct.

"To be fair to Kenilworth, they started to control the ball a lot more than they had done. We got the wrong side of the referee and got a yellow card, and that made a difference and allowed Kenilworth back into the game.

"All credit to them, they deserved to get themselves back into the game.

"Obviously, it’s really positive that we got the win, maybe a year go we would have lost that game and let Kenilworth come and take it away from us.

“The message to the boys is that once we have have got ourselves in a good position, we have got to finish games off earlier and not give the opposition a chance to get back into the game.

"We have got to be able to capitalise on the good positions we put ourselves in.

“We put ourselves in a good position against Stow and Shipston and lost, we have just got to finish it off when we have an advantage.

“It would have left a real sour taste to have lost or drawn that game. I felt that we were definitely the better team. We have just got to be a bit more ruthless.”

Ludlow are on their travels on Saturday as they head for Old Halesonians.

“They are going to be fighting for their lives. They have half a season to turn it around and they will see us as a kind of starting point. It's going to be a really tough afternoon,” added Tench.