Robinson backs 'gutted' Woollard

AS A former kicker himself, Greens' head coach Tim Robinson was the ideal person to console Mark Woollard, after the young fly-half's missed late conversion saw his side miss out on a dramatic victory.

Woollard, Midlands One East's top point scorer with 238 points so far this campaign, had the chance to snatch a win at the death in Scunthorpe's top-of-the-table clash against Syston after a late try from skipper Tom Foster levelled the scores at 32-32 in the dying embers of the clash.

But the 18-year-old kicker's conversion attempt around 10 yards left of the posts clipped the left-hand upright and bounced back into play in a cruel finale for the 18-year-old.

"Mark was absolutely gutted, he was almost in tears at the end of the game," Robinson told the Telegraph.

"As a kicker though you win some and you lose some and to be fair it was his kicking earlier in the game which had kept us in it (still racking up 12 points).

"He's a top kicker and he's well ahead in the points charts for the division so I'm sure he'll bounce back.

"I'm sure he'll end up kicking us a vital kick at some point before the end of the season so I'm sure he'll be fine."

Robinson was a happy man after seeing his side rescue a point after being 20-3 down within 20 minutes.

So the dramatic late loss could not dampen his buoyant mood.

"To get a point out of the game, I am absolutely over the moon!" the former Greens' club captain said elatedly.

"Having the start that we had, giving them a 20-point lead, I think to get a point was absolutely fantastic.

"We did things we wouldn't normally do early doors. We kicked away possession when we were in their half and then we were kicking it away in our own half when we should have been running it.

"But that was more because of the amount of pressure that they put us under and in big games with big pressure people tend to do things they wouldn't normally do.

"So to give them 20 points and still get something out of it was absolutely fantastic really."