Barking chief Warren hoping to get back to business at Dings

Colin Munford Friday, February 8, 2013
12.01 PM

Preview: National Two South - Dings Crusaders v Barking

Barking will have to try again this weekend after seeing their National Two South game at Dings Crusaders called off due to a waterlogged pitch last Saturday.

Barking’s director of rugby Nick Warren was disappointed to see the original tie called off after a good week of training and hopes to get the go-ahead.

“We had prepared well for the game during the week and at this level of rugby pitches should be well treated and drained,” said Warren.

“We were going into the game relatively strong as well so it was disappointing to miss out, following on from another postponement at Redruth a few weeks ago.

“But they let us know early on that there could be a problem and we asked for them to make an early call to avoid us dragging players from across London and starting the coach trip.”

But Warren has high hopes for his side once again this weekend, assuming the pitch at Landseer Avenue has recovered.

“It has given us a chance for another solid week of training to prepare for the game, while a few of the players got some game time in a good win for the development team over Brentwood,” he added.

“There is a lot of hard work going on beneath the first team and that is always important at a club like ours.”

Warren was hoping winger Scott Shaw would be available after being absent for the original fixture.

And he was still assessing whether prop Samuel John and club captain Craig Ratford would be able to play following rib and shoulder injuries respectively.

After impressing for Barking’s development side prop Bradley Reece comes in for Nathaniel John. Warren said: “Sam’s injury has meant he has been out longer than I expected, but we’ll have to wait and see at training how he is, and the same goes for Craig.

“He initially suggested a couple of weeks off, but I’ll have a chat with him and see what stage he is at.

“But apart from those two the squad is strong and it won’t have changed much from the original match last week.

“There are quite a few options in the squad now from when I originally joined. We are a lot stronger and that has shown in some of the performances.”