Bury St Edmunds have seen their National Two East title hopes shattered away in recent weeks with five defeats on the spin leaving director of rugby Jacob Ford scratching his head in bemusement.
The East Anglian side looked set to go toe to toe with Esher and Dorking for promotion up to the third tier but disaster has struck Ford's men.
Tonbridge Juddians beat Bury in late January to end the club's formidable unbeaten home record that had lasted just shy of a year but that was then followed by defeats to bottom half sides Sevenoaks and Wimbledon.
A 60-15 drubbing by leaders Esher ended any remaining hopes of their title pursuit and last time out Bury fell short 32-31 to relegation threatened Worthing.
Bury now lie fourth but rather than trying to leapfrog their superiors, Ford's men will have their heads over their shoulders hoping to not be overtaken by Henley and Tonbridge, who are level on points with Bury, which would rub salt in the wounds of their already unraveled season.
Ford told The Rugby Paper: “We're in the middle of a poor run of form at the minute. We've lost the last five games and the biggest thing for us is we're not consistent in terms of being on it for 80 minutes of a game. We're showing periods of games where we're at our best but it's not good enough in this league. We need to be consistent in how we perform, prepare and within our mindset. We got to a 24-point lead against Worthing but then pulled our foot off the gas which you can't afford to do.
“We've gone from winning 10 in a row, beating the top two teams and first to beat Dorking but as soon as we've had one poor half of rugby it's spiralled into a five-game losing streak. The week off this week should be a nice reset for us to attack the final six games but it's a difficult momentum ball to stop. When you're winning and things are going well it's contagious, the same for when you're losing.”
Difficult conversations have been had among the playing group and coaching staff but Ford says they haven't hit the panic button just yet.
He added: “We know what works for us. The biggest aspect we're missing at the minute is our confidence and belief. We need to take control of situations and dictate the pace of games, while more importantly making our intentions clear of how we want to play. It's more the mental side of things than the tactical.”
Jacob is the younger brother of England and Sale Sharks fly-half George Ford, who he says has been harder to reach than usual in the ongoing Six Nations following a disappointing defeat to Scotland last time out.
He said: “I've had a little bit of contact with George, he's been a bit quieter than usual though. He's really disappointed about the result last weekend but he seems to be enjoying his time in camp which is a positive.”
