U19 GAMEDAY PREVIEW: WEEK TWO

Under 19 head coach, Jack O’Beirne, gives his honest thoughts ahead of this weekends game as our junior Knights welcome the league leaders Nottingham Caesars to Wellingborough.

Knights suffered a frustrating loss to Caesars in week one, 24-22.

After the way our Week 1 game against Nottingham ended, I’ll be honest — it was tough to swallow. There were a few controversial calls that went against us, and when you lose a game by just two points, those things stick with you. But as a team and as a program, we always believe in looking in the mirror first. We’ve spent the last couple of weeks being brutally honest with ourselves about the mistakes we made — and there were plenty that had nothing to do with the officiating.

First, I want to thank our parents and supporters who made the trip to Nottingham and created an amazing atmosphere for our players. Your backing means the world to us. I also need to give a huge shoutout to Coach Nick, who stepped up as offensive coordinator with only a few days’ notice. It’s not an easy job, but he did a fantastic job getting the guys ready and calling the game under pressure.

Full credit to Nottingham — they came away with the win in Week 1, and at the end of the day, that’s what matters. They were physical, disciplined, and made the plays when they needed to. That said, we believe we are capable of a lot more.

Looking ahead to this Sunday, our focus is simple: play our brand of football, but with a lot more discipline. Penalties killed us last time — we lost far too many yards and wiped out some huge plays because of it. If we can clean that up, we’ll put ourselves in a much better position to get the result we want.

One real bright spot for us has been the performance of our rookies. Mo Sule, in particular, was outstanding on debut, scoring a touchdown and showing that he’s going to be a serious weapon for us going forward. Watching the new guys step up has been a massive positive for our whole squad.

We picked up a couple of knocks in the last game, but thankfully it looks like everyone should be good to go for Sunday. Having a full squad back will be a big boost, especially given the weather forecast — it’s looking like it could be a hot one. We’ll have to manage the heat carefully, rotate where we can, and make sure the lads stay hydrated and locked in.

We’re excited to get back on our home field, in front of our home fans, and show the improvements we’ve made. Let’s get after it.

See you Sunday.