Gingdong, complete and utter buzzcox pal.
Fev play one way. Throw bodies late in the tackle and slow the ptb whilst playing off Dickens and others finding the ground for a QPTB and give every cheap shot possible (always a player around the neck), thats why your halves generally get so much space to exploit and have developed such a great kicking game.
First 20 Leigh played them at their own game and Fev were clueless, it was Leigh getting a 10 sec ptb as well as Fev. As a consequence you made few yards made mistakes and gave away penalties - it was frustration as this is not what Smith told Powell he would give him.
At around 20 mins we tried a silly offload and turned posession over, we then got caned the rest of the game. By caned I mean we got penalised for things Fev didn't - we did them, but the ref allowed Fev to get away with them. We were out at HT but the Pownall try gave hope.
Second half we came out stronger than I thought and caused problems but you cannot defend against that good a team playing downhill who are being GIVEN that much ball, yet we should have scored 3 try's, the third being Gardiner too lazy to go low for the line and getting held up.
Could we have held on with such a depleted pack - I thought we would get steamrolled here pre game but I believe without that bent barsteward who was so obviously got at we would have won last night.
Thank you for the effort lads, you were first class last night. Get the bruises treated, the limbs rested and lets do it next Thursday because you deserve it.

Leigh were great in the first half and scored some lovely trys in the game,we struggled to break down what was a fantastic defence at times. There were incidents all through the game that showed the frustration of the players but that is to be expected in a such an important game that was reffed by what can only be described as a clown.

I have watched a recording of the game and to be honest the ref was inept all over the park for both teams. We have been on the wrong end of some woeful reffing this season but have managed to become league champs once again despite it,that for me is the mark of a great team.

Last night we faced a great Leigh team who I think we will see at Warrington and I for one hope we do.

Why did Leigh loose ? Was it because of the ref ?No.

Was it because the fev forrards got their act together in the second half ? YES. Was it because Leigh tried to win the game down the middle ? YES. Was it because Leigh didn't play for the full 80 minutes ? Yes.

Why did Fev win ? Was it because even though they didn't play well they played tactically and played the full 80 ? Yes.

Good Luck in your Next game,based on what I saw last night you would beat either of the other 3 teams left with a performance like you gave in the first 50 mins.

The majority of Ged Stokes' penalty decisions were correct Glow. He got one or two wrong depending how you view them and he was a bit pedantic on one, maybe two decisions- where he applied the letter of the law correctly but unnecessarily - IMO.

After the initial offensive assault on Fev, assisted by our indiscipline, Leigh were then starting to tire a little and started to conceed penalties. They then started to force the issue quite understandably in the second half when the game was drifting giving Fev more possession when errors crept into Leigh's game.
The breaker to me was the obstruction decision. Instead of scoring six points, from that decision we came down field and put the ball over for two - and 8 point turnround within a minute. Leigh's players looked sluffed at that passage of play.
We thought the 'obstruction' was a good try. But there were those around us shouting obstruction immediately and before the ball was grounded. If we'd have had that try disallowed I would have been aggrieved.
I was behind our sticks - I can't comment on the forrad pass.

Leigh tired after giving their all. Their discipline wasn't as angelic as is being made out and Stokesy really isn't one of be'elzebub's goblins. He wasn't, and isn't the finet exponent of officialdom we'll ever see.
It was a niggly, at times bad tempered game. Both sets of players have a responsibility for their own discipline too, which seems to have been overlooked to some extent.

Strange that the only other time we have conceded that many penalties in a game this season was at Batley.....guess who the ref was?

Don't tell me John Kear knobbled the ref at half time....

I'm not interested in the penalty count at all really, we've had stokes before, we know what he's like and we gave him the excuses he needed. The annoying thing for me was when we were 14 12 up, and he disallowed the gardner try, fev fans, fax fans, leigh fans, whoever, must have been able to see that it went backwards by a good way. That decision changed the game massively, and the penalty for not playing the ball?! please, it's 2012, the ball hasn't been played for ten years. The technical pens, fair enough some were a bit harsh , but as i said, we gave that clown the excuse to blow his whistle. More guile needed...again.

Well I don't buy into that theory Derek.

Like I said refs have good and bad games. Stokes had a poor one (for us)last night. The consequence of all those penalties we conceded in the last hour of the game was that we had to do so much tackling it took it's toll on our players and it is a lot easier to win a game if you have the majority of the ball.

Next week assuming Henderson is banned we have Nico back as hooker and Beswick to loose forward.

Should any player have taken a bad knock last night we only have 1 player (Deano) to call upon as a replacement.

Well here's hoping we do the business next week.

Neutrals who watched the game however seemed to have reached a concensus that the bounce of the ball went Fev's way last night. That's not made up it is true but it doesn't of course alter the result even if it makes some of us feel better.

There was nowt strange about it Derek. It was an inept ill disciplined Leigh performance. You shouldn't (but will) blame the ref for that one. Have an objective look at the players performances that day. Batley's outside four murdered a Leigh team who tired because they were a scratch side down to the bare bones, containing injured players who tired because they wouldn't normally have played. Thus they conceded penalties. Come on Derek, show just a smidgin of objectivity!!

Bloody hell Francis, that's almost a good post!!!

RFF thank you for your opinion, we all have them. Mine is you are talking garbage and that the definition of bent is allowing one team to get away with that the other gets penalised for - hence he was bent.
He seemed to be got at last night, Powell is a smart lad who knows how to push boundries and is well liked in the right places.
I will also question your sanity after complimenting Franks post

Fair play Mo, we all have opinions. Mine are there. We don't have to agree.
I think your talking cobblers but c'est la vie. I do sincerely hope Leigh get to the final.
I think the score flattered us and I think you were unlucky with one or two crucial decisions at critical times in the game - as I've stated above.
But I don't believe, nor do I have any evidence that any ref is bent - or have been got at.
Coaches will whinge - and do, players will make errors and conceed penalties - and refs will have sh it games. That might make them a sh it referee, it doesn't make em bent.

We disagree. C'est la vie. Not the fall of Rome is it??

Tho yes, I agree with your comments here. My references to franks post are wholly misplaced. I apologise unreservedly!

Was just pointing out a fact RFF. Still sounds Luke he might be a SL ref down like a certain Mr Child's before him.

Bloody phone.........SL ref soon...........not down