Esher mustn't let it slip now, says Schmid

Mar 25 2009 By Mark Bengoechea, Surrey Herald

Mike Schmid has told his Esher side to be ruthless in Saturday's revenge mission at home to Sedgley Park.

The Manchester club are already doomed to relegation, but beat Esher 27-26 in a thriller last November.

Now Molesey Road chief Schmid has warned his side against complacency as they continue their dramatic bid to beat the drop from National One.

Esher's 27-18 victory over Coventry on Saturday was their fourth successive win and means they have won six of their last seven league games.

The Surrey side are now just two points off 11th spot, and survival, as they battle with Moseley, Rotherham and Coventry for a coveted place in the 12-team Championship next season.

But Schmid insisted: "The key is to make sure we are mentally focused and go out to do an efficient job.

"We want to make sure we are on our game from the beginning because we don't want to give Sedgley Park any hope.

"We lost to them earlier in the season and they are a very good scrapping team so we have a point to prove."

Schmid still believes his side have yet to find their real form at home as they face must-win matches against Park and Plymouth at the Pillar Data Arena.

They also face London Welsh at home plus trips to Doncaster and Bedford as they strive to avoid relegation and complete an astonishing turnaround after being 14 points adrift of safety at the turn of the year.

Schmid said: "We seem to show more nerves in our home matches than when we are on the road.

"Perhaps it's the fact that expectations are high and they are playing in front of family and friends, I don't know.

"But the boys are all confident that we can beat anybody when we are at our best and they are learning to cope with the pressure.

"Coventry had a huge pack and tried to beat us up in the first half. But the forwards really fronted up in the second half and matched them physically.

"We held our nerve and then the backs finished them off.

"We are all working extremely hard to achieve something fantastic and six wins out of seven is amazing.

"We have five games left and if we can win our three home games, that could even be enough to see us safe.

"In theory Saturday's game is our easiest, but you can take nothing for granted in this league."

Esher hope to have the services of fit-again Italy star Matteo Barbini and England Under-20 aces Seb Stegmann and George Lowe against the Tigers on Saturday.