Here is a totally unbiased report of our game yesterday www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/ru ... -1-7108456

Here is a totally unbiased report of our game yesterday www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/ru ... -1-7108456

Sounds like Im going to have to contribute to leigh coffers again to watch what sounds like a cracking game.

No mention of a member of the Bulls back room staff shouting YOUR A LOAD OF F%^&*$G C*&^%$S around the tunnel area and chasing after Derek down the corridor when he laughed at him though is there?

have a look at the 'late tackle' by the scrum half on Sam Barlow and then refer to 'gutter tactics' a deliberate high forearm smash to the head, pictures dont lie.

Don't forget, we lured them into those gutter tactics. McNally, clearly lured Williams into flooring him, and how the scrum half wasn't sent off I'll never know.

Red card any day of the week,he really has a massive chip on his shoulder and was in the refs ear all game,can't remember anyone getting two yellows in a game before.Lowes is renowned for being a gobby git and not the most popular of people in the game, but tension was high and I'm not surprised "words" were said, Derek is no shrinking violet lets be honest.

No mention of James Lowes telling me to Eff Off when I held out my hand to wish him all the best for the rest of the season. That was after clapping their team off. There were witnesses to this also.

From where I was sat it looked to me like Liam Kaye took a good stiff arm when he dropped the ball near the start of the game. Not seen by anyone.

Lowes & Harrison hey..What a couple..LOL

Jimmy Lowes is a man under pressure. He is deflecting the heat onto Cobb but Bradford fans and officials are not stupid.

They will be alarmed at how Lowes had his men in the dressing room at 20.6 up only for them to then tire and lose the second half 30.4 , looking a very exhausted side indeed.

Lowes was also lucky to finish with a full complement of players still on the pitch, as i thought Danny Williams should have seen a straight red for that punch on McNally.

Cobb could not have been better placed but Lowes is not criticising that decision is he and you really could.

So far I have watched the first half and my initial thoughts are that Bradford looked very quick and exposed Leigh down the flanks while Leigh were very niggly with a few cheap shots and a few late shots. When Leigh were playing rugby they look very, very good. The fight was a disgrace ending up in the crowd and Im sure the RFL will have a word with the clubs over that. It was hard to say who was worse though because Bradford started trying to mix it and showed they have a dirty side as well. Their scrum half should have walked for the tackle on Barlow which was worse than Mannings for mine. Will he get a few games for a late elbow to the head? Lets wait and see.

Overall a decent first half but more for the spice rather than the skill levels which seemed a bit off but its obviously very early season and I have the second half to watch yet.

One thing I always used to laugh at in regards to Leigh fans obvious problems with Harrison(and it sounds like with good reason), but they have a guy who is as bad, if not worse running the gaff. Like i mentioned on the Bradford forum I will never forget about 3 years back his behavior when leigh beat us at theirs. He was a disgrace especially for an official from the club.

Edit: I probably should mention the ref as I saw him get a ton of stick from both sets of fans but I dont honestly think he has done that bad a job so far as it was always going to be a difficult game to ref with two teams who so far seem intent on fighting each other.

For me a great win but we need to concentrate on playing the great RL we are capable of and that we showed in large parts of the second half.
Not a fan of local refs getting local games as the risks it can put them under is the main concern rather than the 'he will be bias' for/against.
I thought Cobb got a few calls wrong as the intensity rose but having said that it was a very tough game to ref and it was good to see the touch judges work well to try and help him out.
That said I thought the refs 'calls' added to the occasion and certainly he helped fire both sets of supporters up with his decisions to create the best atmosphere ever at the LSV.
We need to be more clever in terms of discipline and whilst people will say it knocked Bradford off course I'd argue that we also lost focus and it could have cost us the game.
We must respect the ball more when we get possession after periods of repeat back to back sets tackling as its something we did v Wigan pre season and we had to fight back for that win as well.
I know people say its the risk of expansive RL but I'd disagree, you play expansive RL with players not out on there feet and the amount of possession we gifted Bradford will at some point mean we drop points, I'm certain it'll give Paul lots to work on before we head to Fax.
However that's the 'negatives......
Wow there was far too many positives from Sunday to list so I'll skip to our second half effort.
People have said this team is special and I've been a little wary of that but I have to say I'm rapidly coming around to that thought process....do we know when we are beat?
Our forwards are absolute top class and I'm struggling to remember such a bunch with as much strength and talent as this lot(lets not forget those sitting in the wings), I felt it was also a sign of the real quality in our Squad when you see the likes of Penky having such a big say on the game.
For me the MOM was Armstrong, best performance in a Leigh shirt and displayed everything that is good about this team, strength, desire , passion , fitness and skill.
Kays pace on the wing seems to have gone up another notch and Ryan again showed his utter class on the big stage ably assisted by Riddy who also showed the importance of a class goal kicker.
Higson took some tough shots (as did McNally and Barlow - both clearly singled out)but just took it in his stride and his determination was a big factor on Sunday and Fui's first touch of the ball in a competitive game will be remembered for a very long time to come.
All in all a good team performance.
The atmosphere in and around the ground was first class and everything that first attracted me to RL was in evidence Sunday.
I felt RL had actually come back to being something for the fans again.
Great game, great atmosphere, great result....roll on Sunday.

Yeah, I think Leigh allowed them to play the game far too quick early on.

On Sunday we have to try and stop you moving the ball out wide as quick as you do but thats hard when you have someone like Brierley who can take advantage of players speeding out of the line.