IN the hurly, burly of the promotion race it's easy to forget there has been some terrific rugby played and last week's match against Exeter was the third cracking game in a row.

We're all ambitious and are striving for the top, but we must not forget about some great occasions on the way.

The games ag-ainst Wakefield and Coventry were also entertaining, high scoring matches and it may have escaped people's attentions we've now inflicted record home defeats on three clubs this season.

Our wins at Manchester, Orrell and Wakefield were the worst results they've ever suffered on their own grounds.

As for last Friday night the team did really well, we expected a big, physical battle and we knew we would have to roll our sleeves up and that's exactly what we did.

When you look at the forwards in the Exeter pack, they could rub shoulders with any set of forwards in the first division.

We played with a lot of pride and passion and it was nice to see the public getting behind the players in the way they did, especially with the chanting in the second half.

It has a marked effect on the whole ambience of the place and that's got to be encouraging.

I was also delighted for the youngsters Brett Scriven and Simon Daws and how they played, coming through a difficult fixture.

The side has seen changes this season and it's good to see young players given the opportunity to get out there and play.

People had written them off after the defeat at Coventry but that is unfair on the top six or seven sides in this division who are all good enough to push the bottom three or four in Premiership One.

We face another of the better Premiership Two clubs in London Welsh on Saturday and it looks like being another tussle against sides who have been involved in some really tight games recently.

Nobody needs to remind me of their victory at Sixways back in days of Jewson One two seasons ago and there has been hardly anything in it in the matches since.

But we've had the edge and we're still the only side to have won at Old Deer Park this season.

Thursday, March 23, 2000.