22 replies to this topic

[Bryce]

Should be another entertaining game on Sunday, as has been mentioned before, they have alot of ex-lions with a point to prove. I''ll say the same as I did before the Workington game, I'd be happy with a win, if we keep the bonus point away from them, brilliant.

My team would be, Mort, Foxen, Dodd, Thompson, Hurst, Ainscough, Watson, Wilson, Smith, Morrison, Cunniffe, Wingfield, Joseph. Subs, Ashall, Rigby, Gallagher, Johnson.

Lions to win it 34-30.

[PhillH]

Let us hope Phil Joseph is in the side and whatever the issue was behind his recent omissions can be made a thing of the past.

This year's Lions ought to be handing out a much more comprehensive beating than 4 points to the Hornets. Something like 10 - 32.

It appears Bruce Johnson has fitness problems, so we are unlikely to see him picked.

I think room needs to be found for Carl Forber, at least amongst the substitutes. Would give a lot of flexibility to make various kinds of changes. A few sides are on the look out for a half back at the moment, not much point in him staying around if he isn't going to be used. Not totally convinced by Hurst, but you clearly rate him highly - why's that?

[parky]

Someone at the club needs to contact Craig Harvey to enquire if he can possibly combine working in the oil industry and playing for the Lions. He is not only a creative player but also a touch finder and works well with Ian Watson.

[Bryce]

Meant to say 34-20, honest!!!

Hurst, well he was one of our stand out performers towards the end of last season. And as far as I'm concerned, there isn't anyone better in the squad to replace him. And to be fair, he's only played in like 3 games this season.

Agree about Forber, he's another creative player that can produce some match winning performances at his best.

[mark richardson]

Hursts a great winger and I dont know what you need to convince you otherwise Phil. Your fave Mort had a fabulous game again today.

[mark richardson]

And much as Id love to see us sign Harvey I cant see it happening. Why two games into a league season are we worrying about keeping players happy,and adding to an already great squad? Hurst,Thompson and Rigby all went off looking rough today. 3 spots for next week up for grabs already no doubt!

[lions4eva]

Phil, what you basing your Hurst views on? He is solid. Good under a high ball and runs hard. Great Win today from the Lions, bit sloppy from 50-70 mins, but we had too much ( by a long way ) for the rejects to mount a challenge. Impressive stuff from Mort, who has also found his Kicking boots and has certainly cemented his place at full back over Hawkyard in my eyes ( never thought i'd say that ). Cunniffe was reliable and hard working as ever, he looks superb in the 2nd row and Watson and Ainscough looked impressive again. But my M.o.M has to be Dana Wilson he was brilliant, ran hard, tackled well, and scored a vital try before half time. All in all, good stuff.

[PhillH]

And much as Id love to see us sign Harvey I cant see it happening. Why two games into a league season are we worrying about keeping players happy,and adding to an already great squad? Hurst,Thompson and Rigby all went off looking rough today. 3 spots for next week up for grabs already no doubt!

Great to see Phil Joseph's name on the team sheet. And Ian Mort's the man, particularly if he keeps kicking those goals, no justice whatsoever if he gets dropped. He needs to stay in the side.

Worrying news about Dean Thompson. He's the best centre the Lions have had in a good few years. If he were to be out injured for a spell there's no obvious replacement with the ability to make those bullocking runs on the fringes. Rigby could do without an injury right now as well, having got some real momentum into his career with his performances thus far this season. At least the squad is better prepared to cover for an injury in the 2nd row.

Impressive to be so far clear after 40 minutes. After that it will have been difficult for Steve McCormack to give a half time team talk much beyond "More of the same, lads". Meanwhile John Stankevich may well have torn into his team and got them well fired up - so not a huge surprise that the Hornets responded by dominating the early part of the second half. Thankfully the Lions responded and didn't go the same way as Workington. Somewhere along the line the Lions are going to hand out a true hiding to someone, when everything clicks for the full 80 minutes. Maybe even down Dewsbury in the cup - a tough draw but winnable.

Oldham took a bit of a beating up at Workington today, so the form lines point to another win next week. Mustn't get too far ahead of ourselves as it wasn't too easy a win over the Roughyeds at the Willows a few weeks ago. But lets please see some real professional application at Whitebank and get the job done, take the opportunity. With Gateshead and the Skolars to follow, in a months time we really should be talking about 8 wins in a row, with a league campaign of played 5, won 5.

Anyone know the reason for Mark Smith's non appearance?

[Spelly]

As I've posted on another thread, the club 'site is not quite in the rudest of health at present, so this will have to do for Spelly's Blog till Doctor Internet has paid the Lions a visit!

Good performance today, and to deny the (full of ex-Lions) hosts a bonus-point made it extra special!

Those two tries immediately before and after the interval should have meant a stuffing for 'Ornits, but (typical Swinton) we had a dodgy 20 minutes, which allowed Stanky's Mob back into the game.

Martin Ainscough defo has that touch of class, and is developing into a more than decent stand-off, with his paring with Watto in the halves really making us tick.

Seven out of eight with the boot from Morty, and you can't argue with that either.

P2, W2 in the league now, and Benson's Boys await us next week, so let's come away from the Whitebank with our 100% record still intact eh?

COME ON YOU LIONS!!!!!!!!!

[PhillH]

Phil, what you basing your Hurst views on? He is solid. Good under a high ball and runs hard.

All Hurst did against Leigh was repeatedly drop the ball. Wasn't the only one to make a bad handling error that day, but he had a total nightmare - must have been 5 times he dropped it.

[RIGGY]

Good to see you are getting out and about again Phil come say hello in the pressbox one day soon it will be good to catch up again !!

Riggy

[duffymoon]

Another good win despite switching off for a short period and allowing Rochdale back into the game.Hopefully this is something we will eradicate as the season progresses.So good to be able to frequent local pubs and attend work on a monday morning without being subjected to the usual constant jibes about how poor we are etc etc.Weve suffered for long enough!.A really good following from Swinton today and very vociferous throughout the game hopefully this enthusiasm for the club will grow and encourage others to come as the winning run continues.From a personal perspective just wish we could find some way to integrate us fans into the post match formalities as we saw at Rochdale today.It adds that something extra when you can mix with the players after a game and helps promote the feeling that we are all in it together.And its what makes our sport special.

Edited by duffymoon, 20 March 2011 - 08:14 PM.

[Bryce]

A top effort from the lads today. Rochdale played with alot of heart but we more than matched them in that area and our class shone through over the 80 mins. Ainscough has scored in each of the last 5 games and has been by far our best performer so far this season. Ashall contributed to a fine try for Mort early in the 2nd half and is living up to all the hype. Sad that Smithy wasn't playing, but good to see that we can cope without such an outstanding talent. Good shout for Dana Wilson MOM, playing some of his best stuff for us since he signed, let's hope injury won't hamper his season again because he could be a force!

[PhillH]

Good shout for Dana Wilson MOM, playing some of his best stuff for us since he signed, let's hope injury won't hamper his season again because he could be a force!

Great to hear that. Another player whose natural level of ability is definitely a cut above Championship 1 and he's far from over the hill.

Only Keighley to worry about this season!

[GLENNGARY]

Well done the Lions another good win, but you can sure give us some nail biting moments.36-10 up after 50 minutes and cruising,five minutes later 36-26 and Rochdale in the acendency.But the difference in the Lions of the last few years and the present team is that the Lions of old would have capitulated the present team dug in, turned it up a notch and won in the end comfortably. Dana Wilson had a very good game along with Ainscough and young Ashall whose break and pass created the try of the match for Mort, who was my m.o.m for the second week running with 7 out of 8 goals and a lovely try. Only down side for me was Foxens weakness with high kicks Macs going to have to do some work on him or teams are going to target him.Another good thing was the support, we must have outnumbered the Rochdale fans 3 to 1, and what a noise they made,GREAT!

[Furryenzo]

Watched the leigh game Phil, not sure where you're coming from there, didnt see hurst drop it any more than anyone else, and definitely not the 5 times your suggesting. Hurst is safe as houses and strong in the tackle. May not be as powerful or flamboyant as others, but im more than happy with him on the wing.

With regards to today, Dana Wilson was a force!!! Caused them all sorts of problems. Solid game from Mort, Foxen had an absolute shocker, he needs to train a lot more on his positioning. Thought Ashall looked brilliant when he came on and really caused problems for the 'ornits. Personally dont think Joseph should be played at hooker, to slow at the play-the-ball, much better in his usual position loose-forward. Mostly solid performance from the whole team. Just need to not let up if we get in a good position as we did today. Luckily we showed the character to turn it round again!!! Lets carry this form into the Oldham game!

[Paul Davidson]

Definitely some nail biting minutes before we regained control in the second half. I bet Steve Mac was as disbelieving as the rest of us as we let the Hornets back in. We must keep concentration and push on to score as many points as possible when we have a good lead. Points difference could be important at the end of the season...remember last year!!!
Great match and fantastic support from the stand. Let's get as much noise at the Willows. Come on you Lions!

[Blakemore]

Watched the leigh game Phil, not sure where you're coming from there, didnt see hurst drop it any more than anyone else, and definitely not the 5 times your suggesting. Hurst is safe as houses and strong in the tackle. May not be as powerful or flamboyant as others, but im more than happy with him on the wing.

With regards to today, Dana Wilson was a force!!! Caused them all sorts of problems. Solid game from Mort, Foxen had an absolute shocker, he needs to train a lot more on his positioning. Thought Ashall looked brilliant when he came on and really caused problems for the 'ornits. Personally dont think Joseph should be played at hooker, to slow at the play-the-ball, much better in his usual position loose-forward. Mostly solid performance from the whole team. Just need to not let up if we get in a good position as we did today. Luckily we showed the character to turn it round again!!! Lets carry this form into the Oldham game!

Agreed, Mort is something special this season! excellant kicking and also positioning is great. Foxens Handling was very poor ducking away from a lofted ball his football skills obviously didnt impress.

Hurst will get better and better don't forget this lad represented England Under 16's in rugby union and is only 21 now. Think after a few more matches back in the league game away from sedgley parks union games he will be a stand out player

Lets cheer the team on like we did today home and away as it will spur the team on and at willows recently theres hardly an atmosphere lets get behind the team and make some noise!!

[mark richardson]

Anyone know if Same Reay is still knocking about?Hes has barely featured and it looks like we need him now.

Edited by mark richardson, 21 March 2011 - 07:48 AM.

[MALCOLM WHO ?]

I thought the game changed when Ashall came on, a quicker distribution from acting half caught Rochdale on the back foot. One guy who impresses is Cunniffe, he must be up there in the top tackle count, he never takes a backward step and seems a good organiser in the line of defence. Watto and Ainscough are a great pairing something we have missed for many years. Foxen did struggle with 2 bombs but on his day we have seen him catch them and score length of the field tries from them.
As someone has said this side will give a team a real thrashing this season, lets hope its Dewsbury.