I can't be d to look at previous posts, but my take on todays game is thus.

Kicking game for goals we are seriously having a big problem relying on Orford or Awford if he continues to miss. ( yes I know Deacs was good but he was crap at what Orford does good ) Sykes and and a couple of others should be practising and stepping up for these kicks!
Despite Nobby's comments I thought the only reason Crusaders were in it was because th Bulls made stupid basic mistakes (Halley comes to mind for two in the 1st half) and the ref Childs was classically inconsistent! We are getting there, but boy its hardwork watching it unfold, no wonder Macca was as p!ssed off about it as we were,

Where abouts where you in the ground? From the angle I was watching it, my immediate reaction at the time, before he went for it, was that it was either going into touch or - unless the bounce was very unlucky - then given the speed on it it was probable it would be in touch straight after.

Anyway, we won and no-one died, so its largely academic.

He had the sun in his eyes too - was definitely an evil kick.

After that missed penalty kick that my 63 year old mum could have kicked I never want to see Sykes taking one for us ever again. Surely some one else can have a go?

Indeed. The guys clawed it back and ground out a win despite being on the ropes most of the second half. And the league table - in an improving competition - shows the progress we have made in 12 months.

I was stood at the opposite corner from it but having seen how far in field he'd come and how far above his head his hand were when he attempted to catch it I presonally think it would have fallen short.

Sorry that sounded a bit confrontational I wasn't trying to be y sorry mate. Thackeray is a dirty cast off though!

Donaldson is a reasonable kicker I think, but not really an option at this moment in time. Think we're just going to have to live with not having an 80% kicker!

Editted for accuracy.

The appalling weather was a big factor too. It were that cold, I bought a hat and scarf at half time! The reason this is relevant is because in a freezing wind the muscles that they were trying to unstiffen and get going again after the Leeds game will not have been very obliging. Against a fresh team, it was a big difference.

Whilst we made some proper clangers as we often do, on this occasion it was more understandable but we do still give away too much ball. And why is Orford still kicking? He is just awful, and it could have cost us. The man can no longer kick, that's clear, so take it off him or make him practise 6 hours a day to get his mojo back.

I hate bagging referees so let's just say one word - abject - and leave it at that.

We seem to be able to come out on the right side of the close games this year and our points haul over Easter will do for me, and the most encouraging thing continues to be the sheer effort that the lads put in, right to the end. Not pretty, but all in all another heartening performance in terms of grit and determination.

Not a great performance in attack but we got the two points with every player playing their part rather than a few standout performances.

We seemed to be determined to let them back in it once we got our noses in front but the scrambling defence was absolutely superb at times. I certainly give the team an A+ for effort today.

Thought Worrincy came up with the gamebreaking tackle at the end and I hope that gives him some more confidence. Thought Orford kept things running well and was good in defence no matter how many big guys the Crusaders threw at him.

I couldn't get my head around the refereeing at all. There seemed to be little consistency with interpretations around the PTB. One minute we had PTBs lasting over 5 seconds the next he was blowing up after half the time for what were almost identical tackles, no "surrender" call or anything. Then there was the non existent 10m for most of the game which made it a bit dour to watch.

With regard to Sheriffe:
from where I sit I'm looking down the touchline at an angle and it looked like it would've remained in the field of play and maybe bounced anywhere
AND there were two Crusader attackers in close pursuit
AND, to be fair to Sherrife, it was about the only moment in the game where the sun was shining brightly and in his eyes.


As for Ewen... Halley did not play well - all the first half he was winging at the ref, he made a fair few errors, e.g. let go a 40-20 he could've easily fielded. His (counter-productive) winging came back to haunt him in the 2nd half as the ref penalised him for stuff that he'd usually have got away with (e.g. technical offence of not playing the ball correctly).

A good effort today in difficult conditions, and even more difficult rule interpretations. think its fair to say we would not have won the same game last season, so theres' progress be it painfully slow. Kearney from full back has added lots to our attack, reads the game great & chimes in on attack much better than halley. Four tries to two tell its own story for me, goal kicking is a problem but it was'nt easy conditions & they were close to the touchline, sykes apart.

For my twopenneth we simply didn't use our brains enough, we kept trying to bash and biff our way over the line when all we had to do was get it through some hands and hey presto we score! This is a classic Nobby team and they're not going to concede many down the middle.

That said after Thursday I was pleased with the win.

Just to wade into the Sheriffe discussion the lad simply hasn't got it, not his fault, but his defence is awful and whilst the kick he bombed was tricky he didn't use his head - As for Worrincy I just wish such a big unit would impose himself the term 'paper tiger' springs to mind.

Lastly, I'm going to dare to criticise Langley - As magnificent as his go forward and defence has been and it has, whenever he receives the ball the play stops, he never passes!! Often he has men outside with numbers over yet the play dies with him, and as a loose forward he should be aware of what goes on around him and look to open up play or keep a good move going, he needs to take the blinkers off.

Positional play across the back line is a major worry. Reardon is poor, Sheriffe is poor, Platt can be iffy. It's an area we've struggled with all season and nothing will change unless we bring in different players. If Andy Smith is playing in the U20's then he is there for a reason, if he is fit and playing ok then give him a go. He can't be much worse that what we have at the moment. Worrincy is poor and offers very little to the squad, he shows no pace, power or heart. We have good quality young lads in Donaldson, Whitehead and Crookes. If Scully isn't going to play for us any time soon then we need to look to Crossley and the Burgess's and I am told Crossley won't be with us soon. I expect at least George Burgess to play against Dewsbury and if he goes well then he should get a shot.

Platt iffy?? He's quality at centre! Have you been to a match this year or are you basing your judgement from last seasons performances?

Beat me to it!