London Scottish came away from Allianz Park on Friday night with plenty of positives according to winger Miles Mantella despite a 40-5 defeat to Premiership giants Saracens.
Last season’s Greene King IPA Championship top try-scorer carried on where he left off by scoring a fine second half try during the visitor’s best spell of the game yesterday evening.
And whilst clearly disappointed with the final score line, Mantella says there is far more to come from Scottish.
He said: “We were playing a quality side and there were plenty of good points to take out of the game.
“We didn’t get a huge amount of ball which happens when you play a top side like Saracens but overall we have to be pleased.
“We had 18 new guys out there who had never played together. Our defensive shape looked good and it was nice to finally get a run out after 10 weeks of training.”
He continued: “Allianz Park is an unbelievable stadium and nights like these give us huge motivation to break into the top four. However there are plenty of good teams in our division and it will be no pushover to make the play-offs this season.”
It took just 44 minutes of the new season for Mantella to open his account, the former Harlequins man cruising in after an offload from captain Mark Bright following Jamie Stevenson’s clever quick tap penalty.
“It’s always nice to get on the scoreboard and I’ll take them however they come,” Mantella said.
“But now we push forward to Esher next weekend.
“We are all getting more familiar with the system and hopefully we can get a bit more attacking ball against Esher. It will be nice to play at home again.”
London Scottish host Esher on Saturday, August 23, 3pm kick-off and Glasgow Warriors on Saturday, August 30, 3pm kick-off before opening their Greene King IPA Championship campaign against Rotherham Titans at the Athletic Ground on Saturday, September 6, 3pm kick-off.
Tickets for all three matches and hospitality for the Glasgow Warriors and Rotherham Titans fixtures can be purchased online here or by calling the Commercial team on 020 3397 9551.
