BUCK SHELFORD immediately set his sights on obtaining a Zurich Wild-Card spot after Saracens took a significant step towards preserving their status in the Zurich Premiership with a nerve-jangling 17-16 victory.

The priceless victory achieved by the narrowest of margins moves Sarries up to eighth place, five points off the bottom, and with a outside chance of making a late bid for the Zurich Wild Card places, a competition for the top four clubs, who have not automatically qualified for the Heineken Cup. The winner will be guaranteed a highly-sought after place in Europe's premier cup competition next season

At a rain-soaked Vicarage Road on Tuesday, Saracens fell behind to a try from Andrew Sheridan after just eight minutes, but hit back to plunder 17 points, thanks to tries from Richard Haughton and Darragh O'Mahony, converted by Andy Goode who also added a stunning drop goal, to take a 17-10 lead at the break.

Bristol caused a few anxious moments in the second half when they reduced the deficit to just one point with two Shane Drahm penalties, but Sarries held on in a nail-biting finsih to seal their first league win since December 29.

"It was a great result for club," said the head coach. "To come off the back of a big game three days earlier, especially after the way we lost that game, I think the guys come through really well with a good win. One of the things we have said to the guys is that we musn't dwell on defeats, we must bury that and move on and take the positives into the next game.

"We deserved to win by the game," admitted Shelford. "By hook or by crook it doesn't matter how you win the game but I'll certainly take it. I thought at times we played some very good football but at times we played some very ordinary football. The weather conditions were absolutely terrible and didn't help the game at all.

"We scored a couple of good tries and the guys never gave up and that's what the game of rugby is all about. We gave away a few penalties but the guys held their discipline really well in the second half because if we had given penalties away they would have kicked them.

"Things don't always go your own way, but the players know they have got two more games and they have got to front up again this weekend at Newcastle and we still believe we are in the running for a Wild Card spot. So we are going in with a positive frame of mind with regards to winning both our last two games and I believe we are good enough to win both of those games.

"Our defence held up pretty well but I thought Tim Horan had a great game and we'll patch him up and put him out on Sunday as he's a great player to have in your team and his experience shows through all the time."

For a full match report and all the latest news from the Sarries camp, don't miss Friday's edition of The Watford Observer.

April 30, 2003 10:30