Quote Mild mannered Janitor="Mild mannered Janitor"Having been at the game, seen the tv replays there, and subsequently at home, there is not evidence to suggest that's is the case. There is no clear view of Tickle touching down. There is clear evidence of the ball being grounded without any sort of bounce or wobble suggesting a drop.
HTH'"
Tickle had hold of the ball as we was going to ground and then before he got to ground, he had lost hold of it. Of that much there is no doubt.
He did not touch the ball down with either hand. Because neither hand was any longer in contact with it. The non-technical term for this is "he dropped it".
The ball may well never have left contact with Tickle's chest, but you can only legally score a try with your chest by dropping on a loose ball which is in play. Not one that you yourself dropped which becomes a knock on as soon as the ball hits the ground.
The first Leeds try was a forward pass but that was the linesman's call not the ref. Most of the top teams (which regularly shift the ball out wide, to prolific wingers) score tries like that, unchallenged, week in week out, where invariably not only the last pass, but the previous pass to the centre are both forward. Most of them are let go, so it's unsurprising that this one was too. But a mistake.
The short forward pass WAS marginally forward. Only very marginally, but technically a correct call. It would have irritated the hell out of me if I'd been a Leeds fan simply as those short balls are almost never given as forward, even when obviously so, but the fact that short forward passes ("line balls") to players coming on your shoulder are rarely called doesn't make it a wrong decision, A highly unusual one to actually give, but correct.
Child had a pretty good game, apart from not sending Webb off. I'd sin-bin him every 5 minutes.
