Head coach Ollie Smith disappointed with Barking in first half against Thurrock

Head coach Ollie Smith says he was let down by Barking in the first half of their 33-17 defeat at home to Thurrock in London One North on Saturday. The match was the former British & Irish Lions centre’s first competitive game in charge at Gale Street, but he was unable to guide the hosts to a victory. Instead they succumbed to a second loss of the season, following an opening day defeat away to Letchworth. Smith believes the latest loss was down to a slow start from the hosts, who trailed 18-3 at the break, “Some parts of our play didn’t show the improvements we had been working on, but it was positive to see us come back into it in the second half,” said Smith. “We showed what we could do in a 20-minute spell, but we need to play like that for a lot longer “It wasn’t a good first half and it was totally different from how we started against Letchworth. “We looked good after the break against Thurrock, who are a good team.”
Barking rallied in the closing quarter of the match, scoring two converted tries to add some respectability to the scoreline. And Smith was happy to see the Gale Street club show good character after the interval to keep going “We were off the boil in the first half and I said to the squad at half-time that I wanted to see an improvement. “We were better than in the second half than we were in the first, but that doesn’t win you a rugby match.”