ormskirknet

1st game I’ve missed this season so not to much I can add. Feels a bit like Groundhog Day looking from afar, behind at HT coming up just short in the end. Midlands were a very good side at the COA a few weeks back, probably a tad better than Cru when I compare the two games against us, so falling just short has to be a small positive. I fear games are running out for us in terms of grabbing a top 4 spot….. fine margins will turn these defeats into W’s and I’m sure once we get back home and regular fixtures we’ll still have a say even if 4th is beyond us now. And guess what…..no game next weekend

It’s crazy….really not good, amateur teams play on a more regular basis

Fully get the detail behind the headlines regarding Keighley HorneyHorney, I’ve never seen us win there no matter how good or bad either teams doing, but my frustration / concern is we haven’t beaten a top 4 side so far this season; yet we have targeted top 4 ourselves and I also accept we aren’t the biggest spenders either. 2nd half on Sunday was much much better but Cougars weren’t a really good side like Hurricanes or NW Cru are, there’s a pattern this season that we start slowly and have dropped off when the going gets a bit tough in some games…..and that worries me. Looking at the table we are still very much in the mix but can we really do it when it required….remains to be seen for me, something isn’t clicking in the big games / moments, we’ve definitely got it in us….so when we going to see it. A while to go and I’ll be backing Gary and the team as ever but I was a bit frustrated on Sunday, Cougars are not a good side by any stretch this season despite budgets.

Another poor 1st half performance did for us today, mistakes, dumb plays like kicking it to the fastest man on the pitch 3, yes 3 times in broken play, thankfully he only went full length to score on 2 occasions, discipline was again sloppy. 2nd half much better, but managed to shoot ourselves in the foot after going in front with the DG, lost the ball from the contested kick off put us straight on the back foot with less than 1 minute on the clock and we then gave a silly penalty away to compound it, Cougars kick the two….game over. It’s just not clicking when the going gets tough, too many slow starts, switching off in defence, the intensity just isn’t there from the off, too much one man rugby and we look rudderless in parts. We’ve had 2 weeks since the NW Cru drubbing and didn’t look like we’d fixed anything in that 1st half. I think top 4 is likely to be out of reach now….poor 1st half, much better 2nd but just had too much to do in the end. Ashton put in a decent shift, a lot of the good stuff in that 2nd half came from the introduction of Punchard who was busy around the ruck when he came on. As for the bloke on the tannoy….i hope he’s alright

Here Here! It’s a great game day experience this year…..busier (we could still do with more) and a different mix of all ages. Despite a couple of defeats here and there the effort on and off the pitch can’t be faulted, best I ever known in terms of communication, visibility and general atmosphere.

Shocking first half…..really poor indeed another big aggressive side who ran hard, tackled hard and had a decent kicking game blew us away, some really poor GL defence again….its sadly becoming a pattern I’ve seen in every defeat so far this season……I think we are a bit soft through the middle, we are fine when on top but don’t seem to be able to dig in, show some athleticism and ‘devilment’ and take it too the better more enthusiastic sides. I don’t think Cru knocked it on much if at all, we did….a lot and some of our positional / organisational aspects very poor. Having said all of the above…..better 2nd half but the game was long gone by then. Where do I start with that referee?…..some absolutely shocking / baffling and totally wrong decisions went against us in that 1st half….unbelievable! A good side like Cru didn’t need the extra help the crazy calls gave them. It stated with the late high shot on McNally….at least 10 minutes in the bin worthy…..Sky would be playing it over and over while the lad is red carded and given a six match ban, yet the lady ref didn’t even speak to the lad. My caveat to the criticism of the ref is that Hornets were shocking 1st half in particular and can no way lay the blame with the awful decisions… but worst I’ve seen in ages. A ref dressed in red, surname Jones in Wales…..what could possibly go wrong (tongue firmly in cheek) Cru were a well motivated, strong running team with Dallimore pulling the strings and played an almost error free possession game very well. Best team by a mile won today…..sadly just not at the races. Top 4 looks a long way off after today’s performance, although the table still looks tight. Come on lads let’s be having you!

Professional display this afternoon, never under any real pressure from Thunder, who to there credit kept going but were really poor defensively. Scored some great tries and it was good to see changes in the line up giving some of the not so regular squad a run out and the luxury of taking some of the ever-present players, off towards the end. I thought Forster showed us exactly what we are missing in terms of a strong running and pacy back rower out wide / through the middle. Dan Nixon took his tries very well, with one in particular a real blockbuster up the middle. Huge test next week, I hope we front up after a couple of disappointing results so far this season, back up to 4th now…..well done fellas!

Can’t really fault Gary’s post match reviews, win, lose or draw he’s always balanced and talks sense

Midlands miles the better team, I thought scoreline flattered us a little in the end. We got beat up a bit down the middle and definitely lost the forward battle I thought Midlands were well up for it and played the territory game very well, more intensity and out muscled us in defence. We weren’t in that 2nd half at all. Echos of Haven away and Worky home in that we lost the forward battle and were out enthused by an ‘athletic’ looking team through the middle; yes we’ve got some size but our big lads are not the most dynamic or mobile at times let’s be honest. Too many mistakes and Ill discipline all costing us, meaning any ball the backs got was rushed and very much at a premium. However we stayed in it which is to the lads credit, I can’t knock the effort. It’s not the end of the world I can see lots of twists and turns in this division before the season ends.

I was pleasantly surprised with yesterday’s crowd, only a few Goole fans, unfamiliar Saturday KO all pointed to low numbers. Let’s give credit to Andy and the board for giving the crowds a real push this season through the project 1500, it’s great to see more and more youngsters knocking about the ground; along with the Hornets women’s team; but without doubt we all want to see a winning team and right now we are getting that and long may it continue…..a real test next Saturday with Midland Hurricanes at the COA let’s get behind the team in numbers and hopefully put a real marker down on the pitch.

Good today, feels like things are clicking into place and the up and down nature of early season has settled down. Difficult not to give Forber MOM with 4 tries but Harrop looked very good throughout. I hope the injuries don’t prove too bad, but Greg didn’t look good coming off holding his cheekbone

Very composed and stuck to the task well today, well worth the 2 points I thought Dews looked a big side when the teams lined up at kick-off and the first 30 mins or so saw both teams trading sets until Dews plucked a cross field kick to dot down. From there I thought Hornets stepped up and looked the likely winners from then onwards, couple of silly mistakes kept Dews close but we deserved it in the end. Jayden Dayes was my MOM but good performance from Elsey also who always looked dangerous. The pack as a whole did well muscling up in defence and keeping Dews on the back foot with ball in hand.

I thought the grit and determination we showed in that 2nd half was really good and ultimately won us the game. Swinton used the ‘dark arts’ well in the first half and looked game but we ultimately snuffed them out….forwards ran hard and with purpose and our scramble defence was excellent, proper edge of the seat stuff with only 12 men and a couple taken off with nasty looking injuries. Every credit we deserved it IMO and did it ugly today but a 2nd half to be proud of. I’ve added a bit more after reflecting on yesterday. While the win is the main thing it was also so good to see so much going on regarding fan/community engagement, the stand was busy with kids, families the women's teams and lots going on pre match and HT. Andy and the board and volunteers are really trying to bring the good times back……the least we can do is back this and I’m sure we’ll start to see more days like today.

Give over man! Why should the club explain selections to fans?……however Gary’s post match interview may have some context For the record I think picking Tyrer was a no brainer, he’s a quality player. Gallagher was looking good until he went off injured and was providing us with some size and go forward out wide, the 3rd was the PNG lad off the bench, hardly radical selections and had no bearing on us losing yesterday

In many respects today was a mirror of the Haven game; Town ran hard and out muscled us in the middle, refusing to be put down easily whilst we just seemed to be trundling the ball up without much punch and lost the arm wrestle aspect around the ruck. That meant the backs got little or no ball on the front foot and our handling was rushed and very poor when we got close to the line. Dare I say in patches we didn’t look as fit as Town, although maybe I’m being a bit unfair with that comment and should give Town credit for making it very hard for Hornets. We did ok for first 20 mins or so, fell away but managed to get our noses in front at HT. 2nd half was very poor until we had to start flinging the ball about in the last 5 or 10. Town deserved it for sure, willing ‘athletic’ forwards outshone our pack. In a season when home form will be vital we’ve now been out enthused in our last two games home and away by hard determined running, getting over the gain line which sets the platform and I’m afraid our big men in the middle haven’t done it these last two games regularly enough, a bit worrying but there’s also an awful long way to go. I’m certain we’ll lose the Cornwall win and points difference, which leaves the league table with us looking a long way up. Another example of a really tight L1 season ahead ( as if we didn’t already know that) come on lads, let’s be having you!!!!!