Well, the dust is settling on yesterday's game, and I have to admit to a sense of disappointment and frustration. I know the lads played their hearts out and I'm proud of all of them. Yet, we weren't firing on all cylinders, for my money.
Granted, if every player in a team is on top form, all the time, you probably have the impossible! However, for me, a number of small points seemed to make a big difference to our 'usual' form.
Was Gregg McNally fully fit after his battering, the week before? His tackling was virtually non-existent yesterday, and how many of their high balls were allowed to bounce? That's not like Gregg, who is usually as safe as houses in that situation. That said, the guy was as exciting and creative as ever, on attack.
How many howlers occurred between our wingers and full back? I reckon each of them had at least one, and they were costly. Again, those mistakes apart, they both had excellent games.
How often is Riddy's goal kicking success rate down to 40%? Very rarely, if ever. Again, the lad was superb, in attack and defence, so it's harsh to criticise - yet it made a difference to the scoreline, especially as O'Brien was on fire, with his goal-kicking.
As our 'troll' from Halifax keeps pointing out, our pack, on yesterday's showing, were found a little wanting. Of course, a Penky, or Higham, or Barlow, or Acton, could have made a big difference but, Beswick and Hock apart, we seemed to lack the fire-power up front.
Anyway, I guess it's all a case of 'what if' and, in the final analysis, one (or two
) more cup games would probably have caused a major distraction to the ultimate aim for the season. However, it's food for thought that we may be playing the Wolves, or certainly teams of their calibre, before this season is over, and we have to find ways of eradicating the costly errors, and fronting up to some big packs.
