Aberystwyth has always been a tough opponent for Gloucestershire, losing out last year to the Welsh side, but this year, the Gladiators came out firing.
Head Coach Simon Bennett had nothing but praise for Aberystwyth, despite their heavy loss.
“We knew from last year that they are a strong side, but we don’t go into games thinking oh this team are really good or oh this team are bad, we go into every game with the same attitude, and that mentality worked for us today,
“Our main concern from last time we were here was the pitch as when we last played here it wasn’t in the greatest shape, but yet again, credit to Aber, they accommodated us really well and it made for a really good game of football.”
For Bennett, it’s actually his first season as a head coach in American Football, the young coach was almost brought to tears post-game.
“We lost last week to UWE, but from what I saw from my team last week, I knew we could do great things, the players have all put in so much work, and they really do deserve that huge win today,
“I could genuinely cry, honestly, my first ever win as a head coach in this sport, and the way we won it too, it’s just such an unbelievable feeling.”
@gladiatorsuog A lengthy trip down to Aberystwyth, but a worthwhile one… Well done to our opponents Aberystwyth Tarannau today, a hard fought battle 💙⚔️ @BUCS @uogstudentsunion #Trend #UOG #NFL #AmericanFootball #bucssport ♬ original sound – Gloucestershire Gladiators
The Gloucestershire Gladiators went won only one game in their five game season last year, so taking on this head coach role, Simon knew it wasn’t going to be easy,
“I took on a big risk coming into this role, people laughed at me for taking this one, people wrote off this team before the season started, we were predicted to be one of the worst teams in the area, But I just laughed at it all, I saw quality in this team, and wow did they show that today,
“It has been tough at times, I’ll admit, but as i’ll say again, I couldn’t be prouder of what this team has done today, 50 points in my first win, thats just mental.”
After back-to-back games, the Gladiators will now have a few weeks of game rest, with their next fixture not being until the 30th of November, against rivals Worcester Royals,
“I want the players to celebrate tonight, they deserve it, i’ll celebrate too, I want them to do the exact same on Monday, but come Tuesday, I want everyone to lock back in, despite this win, we need to keep that focus, I don’t care how long it is until our next game, we give 100% in every training session still until we play that game,
“Worcester are always a tough opponent, we play them in the league, and in varsity, so we know what they can bring, but if we go into that game with the same passion we brought today, it will be one hell of a fight, matchday against them can’t come soon enough!”
