35 replies to this topic

[GLENNGARY]

Three points is three points but I think the Lions made hard work in winning them.Several times we should have scored, twice we had players tackled on there backs over the line,and in the second half I lost count of the number of times we lost the ball in scoring positions. We are going to have to do better if we are seriously going to challenge for promotion. I couldn't fault the effort of the team but me must stick hold of the ball better near the line. My man of the match was Ian Mort who made some great catches under pressure and gained useful yardage brining the ball out of defence. We were also at fault for gifting Workington a bonus point which could come back to haunt us at the end of the season.

[duffymoon]

Three points is three points but I think the Lions made hard work in winning them.Several times we should have scored, twice we had players tackled on there backs over the line,and in the second half I lost count of the number of times we lost the ball in scoring positions. We are going to have to do better if we are seriously going to challenge for promotion. I couldn't fault the effort of the team but me must stick hold of the ball better near the line. My man of the match was Ian Mort who made some great catches under pressure and gained useful yardage brining the ball out of defence. We were also at fault for gifting Workington a bonus point which could come back to haunt us at the end of the season.

Definitely not at our best today but maybe in the grand scheme of things this type of game will do us good and eradicate any complacency.Agree with the comments about Ian Mort who was outstanding.A difficult choice for the Coach now for the full back position between Mort and Ritchie Hawkyard.The crowd figure of 681 was certainly better than what we would have got at Park Lane and hopefully attendances will increase even further if we can continue our winning run.

[RIGGY]

The correct crowd figure was 651. Scoreboards second error of the day !!

For info though the crowd v Workington last year at home was 287 so a great improvement.

Keep it up

Riggy

[marshy1]

Definitely not at our best today but maybe in the grand scheme of things this type of game will do us good and eradicate any complacency.Agree with the comments about Ian Mort who was outstanding.A difficult choice for the Coach now for the full back position between Mort and Ritchie Hawkyard.The crowd figure of 681 was certainly better than what we would have got at Park Lane and hopefully attendances will increase even further if we can continue our winning run.

I thought we lacked a bit of penetration close to the line.Phil Joseph would have made the differance but as he withdrew his services last week, he wasn't considered for selection this week which was fair enough.
Overall I was happy to get the win and it was a shame we couldn't prevent the bonus point gift.

Credit to Workington for a very gutsy second half performance but I think we edged it overall.

[PhillH]

Quite a few similarities with the pattern of scoring in the Oldham game in the Northern Rail Cup. It seems a bit of complacency might be creeping in once a nice lead has been created. Do that often enough and it will eventually cost you a win somewhere along the line, thankfully not yesterday so the 3 points are in the bag and can now be built upon in the local derbies against Rochdale and Oldham coming up. There has been quite a bit of dropped ball so far, particularly in the Leigh match - and yesterday the weather was no excuse. Its the kind of thing that kills sides, no matter what the general level of talent the basics have to be executed.

Strange that Phil Joseph was missing again. Steve McCormack doesn't seem to fancy Bruce Johnson, who hasn't had much of an opportunity thus far, anyone know if he has an injury problem?

I'm sure Steve McCormack will be making the needed points strongly to the players and expressing some discontent at the lack of an 80 minute performance - as well as replacing anyone he believes was personally culpable of losing concentration.

Agree with the comments about Ian Mort who was outstanding.A difficult choice for the Coach now for the full back position between Mort and Ritchie Hawkyard.

Not a difficult choice at all - Ian Mort should keep the shirt. Particularly as he is the best man to have kicking the goals. It wound me up the other day to read that Ian Mort was "deputising" for Ritchie Hawkyard in light of the latter's hamstring injury - very wrong to assume that Hawkyard is automatic first choice at the moment. Well done to Ian Mort for making his point with a stand out performance and I hope there's many more of them to come. My contacts at Leigh predicted he'd have a major season and so far their judgement is spot on.

[mark richardson]

I thought it was an excellent game and a tough performance. I think we are failing to recognise Town as our main competitors this season. They are big and tough and fast.
We did make a few errors and we do need to cut them out,but its a game we would have lost last year.
I thought both our wingers drove it in like props all afternoon(Id love to see the stats)and Hurst looked back to his end of last season best.
And some credit for the unsung heroes in the second row,Rigby and Cunniffe, who worked tirelessly.
Marshy what happened to Phil Joseph,what do you mean he withdrew his services?

As for Mort I think he had an excellent match both running and kicking and tackling,but I think Hawkyard is still our number one choice there,he inspires the team Wayne English style.

[MALCOLM WHO ?]

A good hard game against a strong Worky side who no doubt will be up there this season. As a few have said Mort had a great game, did well under the high ball and with going forward.Thought we could have done with another try in the first half to try and kill them off because they come out second half knowing they were still in it. Wattos organising is spot on playing behind a good pack, Lets hope we can pick it up a little for this Sundays game.

Far play to the Stewards aswell for throwing out the half wit who was abusing them and a few of our fans all game, everyone likes abit of banter but when you start getting personal and throwing items on the pitch you need to have a word with yourself.

Well done the Lions

[Cato89]

Far play to the Stewards aswell for throwing out the half wit who was abusing them and a few of our fans all game, everyone likes abit of banter but when you start getting personal and throwing items on the pitch you need to have a word with yourself.

Well done the Lions

He scopped a toilet roll in the air when Town scored,wasnt aiming at anyone!!

[wberry]

first half was good but steady, 2nd half we seem to turn off for 20 mins but i think not long ago we would have lost that kind of game so all that said, a wins a win. next 2 games will really set are season up, 3 from 3 will be just fine.

ps.. mort did good but still hawkyard at FB for me but good to have the problem


wayne

[marshy1]

Quite a few similarities with the pattern of scoring in the Oldham game in the Northern Rail Cup. It seems a bit of complacency might be creeping in once a nice lead has been created. Do that often enough and it will eventually cost you a win somewhere along the line, thankfully not yesterday so the 3 points are in the bag and can now be built upon in the local derbies against Rochdale and Oldham coming up. There has been quite a bit of dropped ball so far, particularly in the Leigh match - and yesterday the weather was no excuse. Its the kind of thing that kills sides, no matter what the general level of talent the basics have to be executed.

Strange that Phil Joseph was missing again. Steve McCormack doesn't seem to fancy Bruce Johnson, who hasn't had much of an opportunity thus far, anyone know if he has an injury problem?

I'm sure Steve McCormack will be making the needed points strongly to the players and expressing some discontent at the lack of an 80 minute performance - as well as replacing anyone he believes was personally culpable of losing concentration.



Not a difficult choice at all - Ian Mort should keep the shirt. Particularly as he is the best man to have kicking the goals. It wound me up the other day to read that Ian Mort was "deputising" for Ritchie Hawkyard in light of the latter's hamstring injury - very wrong to assume that Hawkyard is automatic first choice at the moment. Well done to Ian Mort for making his point with a stand out performance and I hope there's many more of them to come. My contacts at Leigh predicted he'd have a major season and so far their judgement is spot on.

Phil,You should read the posts I did say Phil Joseph had been overlooked due to him withdrawing his services for the cup game against Hull,the reason for Bruce missing is I understand a fitness one.

[marshy1]

I thought it was an excellent game and a tough performance. I think we are failing to recognise Town as our main competitors this season. They are big and tough and fast.
We did make a few errors and we do need to cut them out,but its a game we would have lost last year.
I thought both our wingers drove it in like props all afternoon(Id love to see the stats)and Hurst looked back to his end of last season best.
And some credit for the unsung heroes in the second row,Rigby and Cunniffe, who worked tirelessly.
Marshy what happened to Phil Joseph,what do you mean he withdrew his services?

As for Mort I think he had an excellent match both running and kicking and tackling,but I think Hawkyard is still our number one choice there,he inspires the team Wayne English style.

Mark, when I questioned one of the powers that be about why PJ was missing I was told he had withheld his services against Hulland was therefore not considered for selection yesterday.In my opinion thats fair enough and good coaching if it was indeed the case.

[PhillH]

Phil,You should read the posts I did say Phil Joseph had been overlooked due to him withdrawing his services for the cup game against Hull,the reason for Bruce missing is I understand a fitness one.

Alan, all I wrote was that Phil Joseph's absence seems strange. Not questioning the validity of Steve McCormack's decision to omit him. Not ignoring what you had posted, either. It just seems a little wierd as to why a recognised first choice player would declare himself unavailable for the East Hull game. Were the players terms any worse than normal for the cup match? Brings natural suspicions of whether Phil Joseph is perhaps angling towards a move and therefore didn't want to get cup-tied. All in all it hasn't been a smooth start to the season for him, also missing the Halifax game reportedly due to transport problems and therefore dropped to the bench for the following match. Lets hope he gets back in the grove sharpish as he is a very effective player when on form, but at the end of the day the coach should not have double standards and no player has any divine right to be picked - a trap that I feel we have fallen into in the recent past with disasterous results for team morale.

[JOHNNY83]

Far play to the Stewards aswell for throwing out the half wit who was abusing them and a few of our fans all game, everyone likes abit of banter but when you start getting personal and throwing items on the pitch you need to have a word with yourself.

Well done the Lions

When exactly did this 'half wit' abuse anybody????? There was definitely no personal abuse going on, there was a steward stood behind them
for the full 80 mins so surely they would have taken action!!!
As for the 'item' it was a toilet roll.

Get a grip!

[Shizonamy]

It is going to be impossible to keep a lot of these players happy, especially if we keep winning. I mean forber was supposed to be one of the bigger signings and we haven't really seen him play much yet. I worry like PhilH that we will lose some of our players especially when teams like Oldham badly need players in the halves.

All in all yesterday was a good performance, a win is a win after all. However I really want to see us play to our full potential and if Ainscough had been on form (not his best game yesterday) we could have had a hatful. I still believe he is the missing piece we've been missing for a few years.

I agree with most of the comments, Mort was exceptional and Ritchie will find it hard to replace him, maybe Mort could be switched to the wing.
Everyone had a good game really, we will see a sterner test next week and I feel Oldham and Whitehaven away will be our hardest matches this season

[Bryce]

Thought we controlled the game well throughout. As has been said, not playing at our full potential but there was alot of positives to take from the game. Wingfield's try was brilliant, up there with the best we've scored so far this season. Mort impressed again but I do prefer Ritchie at FB. He was one of our most consistent performers last season and has continued this season. We will get injuries and everyone will have their chance to shine so I doubt anyone will be worrying too much. BTW, anyone wonder how we didn't get a penalty when Mort was caught in the air?!

Agree that Foxen and Hurst performed well again. Town were lucky with their 1st try, it must have gone through about 3 Lions hands before they touched down, but taking nothing away from them as they put in a good display (they could say Dodd's try had a touch of luck). Their final try was a top move with a tough offload at the end of it as Mort made the tackle.

Good game, 3 points in the bag. Will be another close game when we visit Derwent Park later this year. Looks like the favourites are going to be ourselves with Keighley and Oldham also looking decent.

We can't perform below par in the 2nd half against Rochdale after their recent results!!!!

[mark richardson]

Phil,where does the suspicion come from that PJ is after a move? Can you expand on this please?

As for the Halifax game it was an horrendous night for traffic. I took an hour to get from a job in Glossop to Chorlton and another hour home and got in the ground at 1 minute to kick off. Which was then delayed as Fax were also late!
And I dont see the point in messing with our wingers to accommodate Mort-they were exceptional yesterday and had obviously been coached to help out the forwards. Injuries will come and dips in form will come and Im sure everyone will get a game.

[duffymoon]

Thought we controlled the game well throughout. As has been said, not playing at our full potential but there was alot of positives to take from the game. Wingfield's try was brilliant, up there with the best we've scored so far this season. Mort impressed again but I do prefer Ritchie at FB. He was one of our most consistent performers last season and has continued this season. We will get injuries and everyone will have their chance to shine so I doubt anyone will be worrying too much. BTW, anyone wonder how we didn't get a penalty when Mort was caught in the air?!

Agree that Foxen and Hurst performed well again. Town were lucky with their 1st try, it must have gone through about 3 Lions hands before they touched down, but taking nothing away from them as they put in a good display (they could say Dodd's try had a touch of luck). Their final try was a top move with a tough offload at the end of it as Mort made the tackle.

Good game, 3 points in the bag. Will be another close game when we visit Derwent Park later this year. Looks like the favourites are going to be ourselves with Keighley and Oldham also looking decent.

We can't perform below par in the 2nd half against Rochdale after their recent results!!!!

I am also a Hawkyard fan but he was injured yesterday and the player that took his place (Mort) was exceptional so for me it would be wrong for Ritchie to jump straight back in at Morts expense.As regards the incident when Mort was "caught in the air,I didnt see it as a foul,Mort simply leapt higher than the worky players and landed on top of them.

Still cant understand why we are forced to stand behind the posts instead of in the shed.Doesnt look good on the Lions TV footage when all that can be seen is an empty terrace.

[marshy1]

Alan, all I wrote was that Phil Joseph's absence seems strange. Not questioning the validity of Steve McCormack's decision to omit him. Not ignoring what you had posted, either. It just seems a little wierd as to why a recognised first choice player would declare himself unavailable for the East Hull game. Were the players terms any worse than normal for the cup match? Brings natural suspicions of whether Phil Joseph is perhaps angling towards a move and therefore didn't want to get cup-tied. All in all it hasn't been a smooth start to the season for him, also missing the Halifax game reportedly due to transport problems and therefore dropped to the bench for the following match. Lets hope he gets back in the grove sharpish as he is a very effective player when on form, but at the end of the day the coach should not have double standards and no player has any divine right to be picked - a trap that I feel we have fallen into in the recent past with disasterous results for team morale.

Phil, stop making moutains again, let me tell you Phil Joseph was genuinely caught in traffic as I was stood talking to him so i'll vouch for him.

I also think Steve Mc has shown he has no problems in dealing with players by the way he has dealt with the PJ situation.

[marshy1]

When exactly did this 'half wit' abuse anybody????? There was definitely no personal abuse going on, there was a steward stood behind them
for the full 80 mins so surely they would have taken action!!!
As for the 'item' it was a toilet roll.

Get a grip!

I was stood behind the "half wit" to whom you refer and some of the language comming out of his mouth would have made a sewer rat blush. ***t was aimed at one young lad on more than one ocassion,plus questioning the same lads mothers morals.

He even chose at one point to fire a volley at my lad who despite being a big lad for his age has only just turned 17,it wasn't done in a jokey manner but in a threatening one.

As for the toilet roll incident yes it was just a toilet roll but it could quite easily have been another misile and the stewards were right to evict him, after having spoken to him on more than a couple of times throughout the match.

I do question there worth as Workington fans when all afternoon there referance was to Man Utd....seems they may have attended the wrong sport.!!!

[Christophe]

Agree with most of the comments.Thought the ref did ok also. He was a little lapse around the play the ball and on the offside but he was the same for both sides and i d rather have a ref that lets the play flow than one blowing every minute.

All in all..not the best performance but a win is a win and credit should go to Worky who showed a lot of spirit and some good moves themselves. Certainly win more than they lose.

Crowd was perfectly acceptable. Over 600 swinton fans and if we can keep winning, may even reach the 1000 mark against Owdham or the Cornets

Edited by Christophe, 14 March 2011 - 05:51 PM.