Herons lost 22-17 away to Ipswich last weekend

Bill Pugh wants Wanstead to right some wrongs when they welcome Stowmarket for their next London Two North East challenge on Saturday, writes Ned Keating.

The Herons will be aiming to bounce back after suffering a 22-17 defeat at Ipswich last weekend, the first loss for Pugh since he took charge last month.

The Roding Lane North club will also be hoping to fare better than they did in their last meeting with Stowmarket, losing 36-0 in Suffolk in November.

And with both of those defeats in mind, head coach Pugh feels Wanstead have plenty of points to prove on Saturday.

“Stowmarket are a good side and we lost heavily to them earlier in the season, so there are things we want to put right from that game,” he said.

“There are also things we want to put right from last weekend, so the boys know we need to pick things up on Saturday.

“It should be a good challenge for us against Stowmarket and we want to do well, like we do in every game.

“We had a few players missing for various reasons when we played Stowmarket last, so we feel like we owe them a performance.”

Against Ipswich last weekend, Wanstead suffered just a second defeat of 2019 and also saw their three-game winning run in the league come to an end.

Pugh expressed his disappointment with both the result and the performance, but feels the Herons can at least take heart from securing a losing bonus point.

“Taking one point from the game is a positive to work around, but we know we have to pick ourselves up and go again,” he added.

“An accumulation of errors cost us and Ipswich were on their game, taking their chances well.

“We came on strong in the final 20 minutes and that was what got us the losing bonus point, but we know we have to do better over longer periods if we want to win.”

Another positive aspect of last weekend for Wanstead was the fact the Herons were again able to field sides in three different fixtures.

It seems like things are really building towards a successful future for the Roding Lane North outfit.