The Swindon youngster was upbeat after defeating Birmingham in their home opener

The boss of Swindon St. George’s Richard White said he is still aiming for the playoffs despite a 56-18 defeat at home to the Birmingham Bulldogs.

It was a difficult debut at home to the Midlands Premier Rugby League competition for Swindon, but the display showed that lessons had been learned from last week’s defeat at Oxford and progress had been made, even if the game got away from them at the end . .

Head coach White was positive about his youngsters, pointing out that no fewer than three 17-year-olds, two of them making their debuts during the match, represented St George against Birmingham.

He said: “For such a young and inexperienced squad, we showed enormous promise. The way they all worked for each other and faced very physical opponents gives me great optimism.”

He went on to confirm that, in his view, a top four play-off place is within reach for the Dragons and that his team will do their best to achieve that dream.

Finally, with a string of superb performances to choose from, the head coach picked up the joint man of the match award, jointly selecting Jamie Davison and Chris Toon for their excellent work in defense and attack.

The game started brightly enough for the Power Wash Dragons as they made their more experienced visitors work hard for what they could get, but the visitors soon recovered and broke through the resistance, scoring 3 tries in a lethal 25 outburst of minutes. .

Undeterred though, St George hit back with a fine effort from John Jewell, quickly followed by a Nathan Hayes cross to see the game all to play for at the break with Swindon trailing 18-8.

The second period opened with another Bulldogs score from a breakaway to reduce the deficit further, but Swindon weren’t done yet and continued to make a real game of it.

Jamie Davison charged over the last tackle of the set to keep the scoreboard at home but fatigue began to set in and the hosts began to fade.

Birmingham pulled away and sealed the game with six late tries before the Dragons’ final response came from Josh Palmer and John Jewell kicking the two extra points.

The Dragons now turn their attention to their next contest, a visit to Sherwood Wolf Hunt on Saturday June 1 at Debdale Park in Nottinghamshire.