I have to say well done to all those involved in arranging the activities such as the little uns dancing and who must have been frozen and wet through.

Also the crossbar challenge is something I believe will be a success.

The atmosphere all night was very good.

The only bad thing was we ran out of plastic pint size cups, unbelievable and hope to god someone gets a bollocking as it was embarassing.

Yeah, I had to rinse a couple that I found out in the bogs at half time - well, I couldn't carry four halfs!!!
Now that's not very hygenic, is it???

I saw someone sneaking round with a cup in his back pocket - disgraceful!!!!!

Anyone got any idea of the attendance? And how did it all come over on the telly? Did the crowd/ground/game etc look ok?

I noticed someone had sneaked past all those extra stewards we had on with a pint glass not mentioning names but he looked a bit dodgy to me.

Just to clarify it was a pint of water disguised as lager to fool folk

I thought I could see steam coming off the top of it.

Mick, the crowd was 1,300. I recorded it and watched this morning. It came over ok . Shame about the pitch.
The sooner Silsden move back to their own ground the better. The grounds man must be fed up.

To be honest ,much as I hate the round ball game, ,its fair to say the pitch would have been the same on Thurs regardless to what had taken place on there prior to the game ..it was a rainstorm that no groundsman could have planned for...

I was at the ground all day Thursday and Mark ,the groundsman,had the pitch come 2pm in the afternoon looking spot on,marked out n ready to play...

Like I say my hatred of soccer ,(and believe me I'd love to put the responsibility for the state of the field down to Silsden n all the 'Beckham' Wannabes who moan about the state of the ground..part time prima donnas) , but unlike those idiots from Sky who failed to get their facts right ( 'Silsden only 'rent' the ground from Cougars n do not share it (,a la Rochdale Hornets n Rochdale AFC , Doncaster Rovers n Doncaster RLFC etc etc).. I Can see that the state of Cougar Park was down to the great man up above with the long white beard ..nothing more nothing less

Point taken Rach. What i was trying to say was Silsden were not helping. The pitch was like that Wednesday so
i was told. Watched the Wigan game last night , their pitch was perfect. And don't forget soccer is played
on there. I will admit that the heavy rain did not help. It's been a bad winter this time,so that will not
have helped.

Not wishing to pick a fight with you Rach but the fact that Silsden have been using the pitch during the winter has significantly affected the surface and its ability to drain - ask any decent groundsperson and I'm sure he/she would agree, they would rather 'rest' the turf prior to any season. Cold temperatures, a foot of snow and winter play will have all played their part in destructuring the soil and inhibiting drainage.

The pitch has received significant investment over the past 20 years,with drainage and plenty of sand applications. If the pitch wasn't used for anything else other than rugby and training sessions - it would stand up to the inch of rain that has fallen over the past ten days.

Whilst I more than appreciate the need for extra income, I am sure that the money raised from the rent of the pitch would not cover the cost of aeration/sand required to deal with the rigours of play and persistent rainfall.

My heart goes out to Mark as does it to all the groundsmen who entertain 'duel purpose' sports grounds. It must have been heart breaking to see the pitch degrade in to a mud bath 'live' on TV. And let us not forget, it has to be returned back to a reasonable condition for the next home game - which ever sport that is.

Consider this - When I prepare for a televised tournament, I have the abilty to close areas of the course and indeed, the televised tournaments I have delivered have been during peak growing conditions.

Astro turf

Like you know anything about it

Oh and Rach, what's all that about blaming the man with the long white beard...
...what's Gandalf got to do with it???