WARWICKSHIRE Bears head coach Tom Masterson said his side learnt plenty of lessons from their season-opener on Sunday.
The Bears kicked off their National League Premier Division campaign with a 70-38 loss to Sheffield Steelers on Sunday, but put in an accomplished showing against the reigning champions and Eurocup winners, despite losing three members of their team in the off-season.
Masterson said: “I would like to thank Steelers and their coach Kev Hayes for a fantastic game and a lesson on how far we still need to go to be able to compete at this level.
“This game has shown that it is going to be another tough season ahead of us, but all we can do is keep going and get better.”
Sheffield set out their stall early and displayed their champion qualities by storming into a 21-4 lead, blowing away the Bears time and again with their sheer pace in attack and height advantage.
Bears continued to struggle and fell further behind, going in 41-13 down at the break, before growing into the game somewhat in the third quarter.
Continuing to chip away in the final period, the Bears had their most successful quarter when scoring 15 points.
Bears visit NI Knights on Saturday, September 28 (2pm).
