Sounds like Gaskell didn't have the best game. We bombed 3 trys from forward passes, also didn't help.

Crap.

If the game showed one thing, it is that we need a proper scrum half. Will the lesson be learned at some point? Gaskell was asked to do it all and ended up playing pretty poor as a result, we could never get a grip on the game, when with a Deacon to take charge, we would have taken control and won easily. Playing yet again without a 7 is becoming total lunacy, and is going to cost us dear

Sounded like we lost our way a bit when OB came off and Thomas came on. Presume Addy moved to hooker and Thomas played in halves?. Point dropped rather than one gained but not a total disaster.

Should have gone for the DG. Nothing but poor management of the game threw that point away.

It might not be a disaster but it does show that we are still struggling to beat championship teams. Stay here long enough and we stop being a SL team in the championship and actually become an out and out championship team.
We all knew it would be tough today but you really must beat a team that didn't get into the top four last year if we have any hope of going up.

Not a disaster? In terms of the result I agree but the performance is a total disaster and shows we are no where near SL

A team coached by Lowes with poor game management? When could that ever cost us?

But I also see from Facebook (so take it with a pinch of salt) but Lowes has again being getting into bother regarding his interactions with fans

Totally agree FA it's getting ridiculous playing without a creative scrum half. In their 20 today we never looked like scoring with nobody able to put a move on. Why, when we were defending and our wingers won every high bomb did we not put any bombs to them when attacking? I just don't understand the game plan at times or if we have one at all. We are just not improving and our opponents enthusiasm as far better than ours!

My point is, what chance does this team have against SL opposition at the sharp end?

Not a lot, but with one key position short, zero.

As a result, a team which professes SL ambitions struggles against Batley. Who would be flattened by any SL club. I don't get it

Did Adam O'Brien bet injured. Didn't come back after 55mins?

What did final penalty look like in ground? Looks wide on video on FB.

That one behind sticks? Looks wide on video. I was at other end of ground so can't comment but a lot of bulls fans thought it was wide and looked wide on video.

No idea what the penalty was for originally.

That said hope we don't use it as an excuse

It missed. I was pretty much bang in line with the left post and it missed. Mathers was under the posts and simply stood looking at the linesmen in complete disbelief.

That being said, we shouldn't have been in the position in the first place. 12 points up going down the hill and we let them back into it. AOB went off and we lost all structure. The passes from the play the ball weren't coming quick enough which gave Gaskell (who wasn't having his greatest game anyway) no time to do anything and it let Batley pin us. Unless he was injured, AOB really needed to come back on to get things stable, but was never put back on. We should have taken a DG, and didn't.

Credit to Batley though, they worked hard up that hill and took the chance in front of them. Keegan Hirst is an absolute monster and ran us ragged in his stint towards the end.

I couldn't tell whether the kick went over from my seat in the stand, but the fans behind the sticks all seemed convinced it hadn't. Also I don't think anyone knows what the penalty was actually for

BUT

Let's not allow that last few seconds to divert us from the reality that we were simply not good enough today.

18-12 ahead at half time - having not played all that well in the first half, and we should have comfortably won the game playing down the slope against a part-time team. Instead we were basically hanging on for the last 15 minutes, with guys looking completely out on their feet. All the energy and enthusiasm was coming from Batley at that point!

Everyone is going on about the lack of a scrum half, and fair enough, we really should have one (or more than one) in our squad. But Paul Deacon in his pomp would have struggled today, when the pack were getting beaten in the collision. Why is that the opposition manages to make 15 metres on every play, and needs five people to drag them down. Then we get the ball and can barely make it forward 30 metres in our set?

Apparently we were losing the collision against Swinton (according to BCB) and were basically getting beaten up today AGAIN. I'll exclude Mitch Clark, who is getting by on sheer effort (and ,to be fair, Clough was coming back from injury. But our props, as a group, look small, lacking in impact and unable to get on top of Championship teams - heaven only knows what will happen in the Middle 8s