The Phantom Horseman

Some of us watching the game got the impression his leg was still far from 100% as he barely ran at the line all day whereas normally he'd do it half a dozen times or more during a game, and I can't help wondering if the weak kick that failed to find touch and led to York's penalty on the half time hooter was partly down to his leg (though of course Hampshire could have taken the kick). He still had some good moments including the briliant pass that set up Webb's clean break, and with it being a final I think Fev had to play him if he thought he could get through 80 minutes. But it wasn't to do with avoiding drop goals - he was practising them (successfully) before the game and was perfectly lined up to kick the winning point 15m out in front of the posts inside the last 2 minutes but sadly the ball went right and the chance was lost.

Well done York, took your chance and we didn't. Who says you need tries to make a compelling game though? Tremendous effort by both teams.

Despite the result every Fev fan should be proud of our boys' effort, unwavering commitment and just some missed opportunities, especially when Reynolds didn't get the ball 10m out with a minute left with an obvious drop goal chance. Well done York, 100% effort from both teams and yes, it's possible to have an exciting and entertaining game with no tries.

Gutted as a Fev fan but well done York, they took their chance and we didn't. No idea how it looked on TV and don't care, but that was a compelling game to watch live and a great atmosphere regardless of how many people were in the stadium. 100% commitment from both teams

Yep, proper arm wrestle with very solid defence.Rain has eased a bit but still far from ideal for flowing rugby. York had more territory and 4-2 probably a fair half time score.

The old Wembley way is an absolute sea of red and white.

I thought it would have been 10-11 each of two, or maybe York slight favourites, after the game at POR (whereas at the start of April, I wouldn't have backed Fev with a 20-point start). That said, if Reynolds doesn't play, or is not at full fitness, I'd shift the odds in York's favour more significantly (I'd say the same if, say, Harris were missing for York).

Must admit I'm a bit surprised by the opening betting shows on this. Fev 1-2 with Bet365 and 4-7 with Betfred, York 6-4 with both. I would have thought this would have been a 10-11 each of two type of scenario.

Fev aren't really in contention on the IMG scoresheet at the moment, but from a Fev POV (as with your own club of course) the 0.1 point bonus for winning the 1895 Cup places into insignificance when other clubs are getting 0.5 points or 1 whole point more than you simply because of their geographical location.

In Paul Cooke's interview uploaded today he talked about "one or two doubts" amongst the squad but the only one he ruled out was Bailey O'Connor.

I agree, but also Akauola hasn't played since April and only lasted 12 minutes then, I think he would have had to have played last week and proved his fitness (and shown something too) to have had a realistic chance of playing, unless of course we have another injury and don't have anyone else available. One thing that Cooke could do though is pick Turner on the bench instead of Arnold, assuming Reynolds is demeed fit to play. I'm not syaing that's what I would do, but Turner would give us some insurance if Reynolds doesn't hold up, and we would then rotate the middles in a slightly different manner (rotating a 3-man bench in some respects gives you more options than rotating four).

That will be the numbers that Martin Vickers was quoting ie the ones sold through the RFL website that was the only place to buy tickets. Although I think they identify who you are supporting by the link you click on - each club has its own slightly different link I believe and that tells the RFL the club origin of the person buying the ticket - so if people just googled "Wembley RL cup final tickets" or similar they might not be included in the number being quoted for that club's sales. But I'm just guessing really there. I don't think the club gets any sort of cut from the tickets - it says in the Operational Guidelines "Neither Club competing in the final shall be entitled to any share of the GateReceipts of that Match" - and I do know Batley's chairman said before their 1895 final a couple of years ago that they didn't expect to make any money at all from the 1895 final and were hoping to cover travel/hotel expenses etc from sponsorship.

Callum Field left Widnes at the end of last year stating that he was taking a year out of the game. Harvey Spence reportedly went to Australia at the end of 2023 having played for Keighley as you say. Don't think Jacob Doyle has played at semi-pro level for a couple of years, perhaps back in the amateur game or RU? Sweeting definitlely at Midlands Hurricanes and Summers has played for Dewsbury this year. Brown and Chisholm are both retired.

Ah, now I see, he means the Fev jersey, which has a bit added on it to the effect that we're playing "York City Knights" in the final. Yeah, bit of a faux pas that, though I doubt many will actually notice given it's so hard to read.

I think it says "York RLFC Knights" on the jersey.

I was confused by that post too - the photo is just a generic one from media day which both clubs have used.

I think how they have done the ticketing is a bit of an inexact science though - at dfiferent stages (including now) the "Warrington link" to the Wembley tickets page has also included some of the blocks available to us (eg 128, 132, 235-237). So I think there might be a few Warrington fans in "our" blocks (which we'll all be abandoning en masse after the CC final to move to the centre). But I think you're right in that we won't know for sure how many fans we'll have there until shortly before the 1895 final kick-off.

As a postscript to this game, Curtis Teare, who was the player involved in the tackle that saw Bailey O'Connor get injured, has received a 2-match penalty notice after receiving a Grade D charge of dangerous contact.

Cooke said that both Wynne and Williams could have played "at a push" last week but he said he didn't think it was worth the risk when he had other healthy players who could fill in for that game. I'm not sure if we have heard anything about Hatton being injured, he was replaced during the Widnes game and hasn't featured since, but with O'Connor's participation in doubt and Glover ineligible, he looks likely to play on Saturday unless he does have an injury. The 21 names probably don't mean a lot at this stage to be honest as I don't think there's anyone else we could realistically have named.

Also, by the time most of the Fev fans became aware that the game would be streamed the decision would have been made about how many coaches etc were going.

Yeah, I think blocks 136-138 might have been amongst "our" suggested blocks too, just on the other side of that end, with the Warrington fans in the middle.

Looking at the squad on the RFL website, there looks to be 2 changes from the 21-man squad that was named for the Barrow game, Williams and Wynne return and the ineligible pair Glover and Wilde drop out. Reynolds, O'Connor and Olpherts are all named although of course that doesn't mean they will necessarily play.

No, hardly any of them stay behind, and the fans of the Championship teams (whose tickets tend to be level with the corner flags) move round behind the posts. It was slightly different last year because Wakefield brought a pretty big following, but most years Wembley has been pretty empty for the 1895 apart from two clumps of fans behind each set of posts, it's been like that for a few years and as you say once again there will probably be fewer than 5,000 fans in the ground. In my view it worked a bit better when the 1895 was the curtain raiser for the CC final (which was the case in 2021 and 2022, the latter game taking place at Tottenham), but now they have the women's final in that slot. It's a tricky one - it would feel more appropriate at a smaller northern ground but would it have the same excitement for the players, in particular? In its previous incarnation as the Northern Rail Cup it would usually be played at Blackpool and did attract some fair crowds, but teams don't get as excited about going to Blackpool as they do about going to Wembley.

I think if you clicked on the link provided by the club the RFL would have known where you had "reached" the tickets website from (and you would have been directed to blocks130-32 etc). That said, plenty of people might have just googled the RFL and bought tickets having read that we were in blocks 130-32 without following that link.

I'll pass the word on, drinks at Wembley are on the York fans!