Taunon V Bury St Edmunds

TAUNTON Titans head coach Tony Yapp admitted that his side's 22-15 win over Bury St Edmunds was "a little bit ugly", but was pleased to avoid a potential banana skin.

Yapp said: "'Got the job done' pretty much sums it up.

"It's been a horrendous week  the groundstaff have done an amazing job, but the conditions were still quite tough, quite greasy and muddy.

"Bury are a good team, they've got some good players, and I think sometimes they don't realise how good they are.

"They caused us a lot of problems today, but credit to our guys - we stuck at it.

"The performance probably wasn't as good as weeks gone by, we looked a little tired and blunt at times.

"It was tight with 20 minutes to go, so to push on and win was really pleasing."

It was a win achieved without the likes of Nick Mason, Julian Salvi, Aron Struminski, Ratu Vakalutukali and Tom Wyatt, but Yapp is reluctant to use that excuse.

"We do have quite a few guys missing, and those guys being around creates pressure on the guys who are in the team, which adds a little more energy," he said.

"But we have a good squad and good numbers; it's a 30-game season and sometimes you might not bring the same energy levels to it as you'd like.

"The main thing when that happens is to still pick up the win, especially against a dangerous team like Bury.

"We played almost all of the first half in their half of the field, and we were unlucky not to come away with more points.

"In the second half we had to roll our sleeve up, keep fighting - when teams are within striking range with 20 minutes to go, no matter who you're playing, they become a good side.

"The main thing for us is the win. It wasn't pretty, it was a little bit ugly, but we've come unstuck before at this time of year, so we'll take that at the moment."

All 22 of the hosts' points came from fly-half Gary Kingdom, and Yapp said that the 37-year-old had been working hard on his kicking in training.

"I think Gary would be the first to say that over the last couple of games he hasn't kicked as well as he would have liked, but today he was faultless.

"Not just in his kicking from the tee, but kicking out of hand - there were times when he turned pressure on us into pressure on them and put the ball in the right areas.

"Despite his age, he still works hard - he's out here kicking and practising all the time.

"The last couple of games haven't been up to his standards off the tee, but you know he's going to come good because of the effort and work he puts into it.

It wasn't all good news forwith Freddie Fraser - who has only just returned from injury - coming off at half-time.

Yapp said: "We'll find out more this week, but Freddie isn't looking great with his shoulder, and that's what he did before.

"Obviously that's a massive blow at the moment, with [fellow centre] Nick Mason struggling [with a stomach injury] - he's probably another two weeks away.

"The only positive with Freddie missing is that Tom Wyatt is back in contention after his suspension for the last three weeks, so there's an opportunity for him in the squad.

"Chris Francis came off with a knee injury; he felt something pop, so hopefully it's not as bad as feared, but we'll know more by Tuesday.

"We'll roll into next Saturday and put out the best team that we can away to Leicester Lions, who are going well, and give it the best shot that we can.

"And if we can get something out of that game, it bodes well for us heading in towards Christmas."

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