London Broncos beat the Merseysiders 21-14 at Twickenham Stoop
London Broncos coach Tony Rea hopes that his side’s 21-14 win over St Helens on Saturday will help turn around the Super League club’s fortunes.
The success was the South West London-based side’s first home win over the Merseysiders since 2002 and put some breathing space between themselves and Castleford Tigers who are two points below the Broncos at the foot of the table.
Seventh-placed St Helens arrived at Twickenham Stoop missing numerous key men through injury and suspension though London’s 17 were the only fit players available to Rea.
Commenting on the win, the 46-year-old Australian said: “It was a very important win. It was a very important weekend for us to make sure we came away with the two points today.
“Our lives are about accumulating two points and you’ve got to get them and then get another two and another two.
“Hopefully it will change the make-up of our thinking and the direction is going forward.”
The Broncos went into half-time 10-6 down but rallied in the second-half to comfortably dominate the second 40 minutes which Rea attributed to the team’s discipline.
He said: “Key today was our defence and our control in the last half-hour. I think we didn’t make an error for the last half-hour so that was very important to us.
“The control gave us an improvement in our performance and allowed us to defend well. First-half, too, I thought we defended for long periods particularly well.”
As has often been the case this season, London captain Craig Gower proved inspirational to the Broncos cause and Rea took time to praise his halfback.
He said: “I thought Craig had a really good lead into the game. I think you could tell he was working really well with the team.
“He took the line on when he could and was, in effect, telling the players: ‘follow me’.
“He did a real outstanding job of doing that. I think that was there for all to see. He put pressure on the opposition with a good kicking game.”
Rea’s St Helens counterpart, Nathan Brown, talked about the learning curve his young side is experiencing at the moment after the game.
“I don’t fault anyone’s effort or commitment,” said Brown.
“It’s unfortunate we are where we are and we’ve got young people playing out of position in key positions and they’ll learn in this time.
“The team is learning where their strengths are and we’ll get there eventually.”
London’s 19-year-old centre Dan Sarginson praised the Broncos’ fans for the part they played in the vital victory.
He said: “The crowd atmosphere was amazing at the end of the game. All the Tweets we got from fans and the support was great. Even on away games they are always as loud.
“Sometimes you need a bit of support to carry you over at the end when you’re a couple of points ahead. The crowd definitely helped us win the game this week.”
Next up for the Broncos is Hull FC away on Friday night.
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