Today's Match

[steve wild]

As things stand we're reasonably confident that the match will be on. The pitch is obviously damp but thankfully no standing water.

However another dramatic downpour in the next couple of hours might change matters, and the referee's opinion upon arrival is the final authority.

But as things stand at 10.30am the game is on.

[Craig]

What a game that was! The Lions done themselves proud and fought to the end and the Cruisaders were lucky to pull a draw. The season is going to be rosey! C'mon you Lions!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LOYALION]

A hard fought slog. Started badly but picked up in the first half and dominated the second. Thoroughly enjoyed the rugby but I found being amongst the Cru fans hard work. I've rarely heard such a set of moaners in my life. They screamed for a penalty at EVERY play the ball, and I mean EVERY. It was tiresome for 80 mins. We were dirty, never onside, always lying on, cheating, paid off the red, the whole shebang! They even screamed at Atkins when Ashall kicked him in the head!

Still, it's nice to dominate the team favourite to win the league, just kick more goals and we're sorted. Well done to Andy Ball today too. Came into the pack and did extremely well.

[wayne_r]

For the neutral in the crowd it was a great game - Crusaders were a big physical team that had a good kicking game but didn't create any chances with the ball in hands. With a little more composure we would have scored two more tries, I thought the ref had a poor game for me the Crusaders #7 was mixing it all match. I thought the team showed grit, determination and moved the ball around well in poor conditions - with a little better decision making would have won the game for us, e.g. not setting up for a drop goal in the last minute.

All credit to the team and the coaching staff - cannot wait for Tuesday.

[RIGGY]

A true team performance today and again in the conditions the defence was awesome.

A very tough game against the favourites but we did not lose it and didn't deserve too.

 

Well done to everyone and keep behind the lads on Tuesday night.

 

Riggy

[mark richardson]

Anthony Murray was sat near me. He was petulant and cynical throughout

Poo rolls downhill and their tactics and fans attitude reflected this

They were coached to spoil

Dallimore and Wild particularly

We played hard and tough and deserved all the points bit I'm not too disappointed as we would have lost this in previous seasons

Our mental strength is our real strength. Great indomitable team spirit

Outstanding performance

[mike the lion]

We need a reliable goal kicker as I thought the lack of this cost us the game today.Even the field  kicks on last tackle and kicks for touch are not being executed well enough.

Overall though,a very good performance in the conditions.

[Westernmancunia]

Great performance overall despite the conditions and gifting them early points.But we should have won it.  Should have kicked the penalty in front of the posts in the first half. Would have been the difference as there was never going to be much in it on a day like today. Lost it a bit at the death as well. Should have been able to manufacture at least one attempt at a drop goal. However the overall  performance,in  particular the second half ,was terrific. Lots to be upbeat about.

[steve wild]

Fantastic team spirit there for all to see! John Duffy has created a real togetherness. At 14-12 there was only one winner, but some lost ball at crucial moments in attack prevented a 'killer' try IMO (conditions obviously not helpful in that respect). NWC never threatened our line in the 2nd half so disappointing to lose a point thru a daft penalty. A brutal encounter at times, and we wait to see if there any repercussions.

[Colin James]

Having seen the footage after the game I fully expect action to be action taken against one of our players unfortunately.

Could make a 'top ten high tackles' compilation of their lot though! Looked a deliberate tactic to target our wingers and full-back with high-shots. The worst was one Ritchie Hawkyard managed to duck under.

[class of 63]

Good performance yesterday - no real complaints - maybe should have gone for the drop goal but the conditions made everything difficult - thought we were the better side and deserved to win but on and upwards for the season - well done lads.

[mark richardson]

Any one else realise Gene Ormsby was one of their subs yesterday? Good to see Penny earned his place back off him. No comparison.

[marshy1]

Yes Mark and he really didn't offer them much just as he didn't when he played for us.

[mark richardson]

Good to see Tony Smith finally see sense over Kevin

[gogledd]

 First, thank you for your hospitality particularly for allowing two of us to use the changing rooms after cycling up,

 

A real shame to hear that some of you thought our fans had a poor attitude. We will always look at a game from our own perspective - as will Lions fans - but we've always prided ourselves on our good nature and friendliness towards other supporters. If you read through the forums other supporters from visiting clubs have given lots of praise to our fans and their attitude to rugby league.

 

Loyal Lion mentions our fans constantly complaining - supporters from both clubs were complaining about the standard off officiating. Offside was ignored throughout the game. The ref allowed lying on by both sides, he was conned on a number of occasions by players blatantly cheating and he sinned binned Jono Smith who was not involved in the fighting. Our #7 (Dallimore) lost his head and finally got substituted by the coach before the ref took action. The only justification is his frustration that the ref failed to get to grips with the game.

 

If there is anything particular Loyal Lion or Mark Richardson have comments on regarding our fans attitude I'd be happy to discuss it.

 

I guess there were 70 fans there on Sunday. Were you disappointed with the attitude of all of us?

 

I am flabbergasted to reads such remarks and would genuinely like clarification.

 

That aside I though Swinton were far the better team particularly in the second half and we did well to come away with a point.

[mark richardson]

Your coach stared at me and shook his head on more than one occasion and all I was doing was shouting for my team . He was surrounded by people repeating his moans.

If that's the attitude you want to hear about mate there you have it .

I was as astounded as you as I have previously praised the cru fans on many occasions. You are some of the best and loudest but something was amiss on Sunday.

[gogledd]

I think we have to accept that each set of fans will view the game from their own perspective. I'm sure there were things that happened in the game that you though should have gone Swintons way and I would have thought differently.

 

Anthony Murray will always want the best from his team and I doubt you would expect him to agree with you on matters of Crusaders performance. The people around Anthony will be the coaching staff who will no doubt have the same perspective. If I stood by your coach I doubt whether he'd would agree with my analysis of the game either.

 

I have to agree that something was amiss on Sunday. Our team performance wasn't up to expectations particularly in the second half. Sunday was the only away game I can remember when the fans didn't burst into song in the club after the game, The bus home was equally quiet. That tells a story in itself.

 

I am now concerned that you found comments from Crusaders supporters or staff deliberately offensive - If so please send a private message and it will be dealt with.

[Mark]

To be fair, North Wales probably brought more fans then any other team will this year, mostly good natured but I think everyone was frustrated by the referee, my favourite one was one of your supporters turning round saying "I notice your not shouting when your offside" I had to point out I probably wouldn't shout against my own team!

[mark richardson]

I think we have to accept that each set of fans will view the game from their own perspective. I'm sure there were things that happened in the game that you though should have gone Swintons way and I would have thought differently.

Anthony Murray will always want the best from his team and I doubt you would expect him to agree with you on matters of Crusaders performance. The people around Anthony will be the coaching staff who will no doubt have the same perspective. If I stood by your coach I doubt whether he'd would agree with my analysis of the game either.

I have to agree that something was amiss on Sunday. Our team performance wasn't up to expectations particularly in the second half. Sunday was the only away game I can remember when the fans didn't burst into song in the club after the game, The bus home was equally quiet. That tells a story in itself.

I am now concerned that you found comments from Crusaders supporters or staff deliberately offensive - If so please send a private message and it will be dealt with.

I haven't said that anything was offensive from anyone

As Swinton fans I think as a whole we believed Cru played a petulant game plan. You can disagree and I'm sure you will

If your top man finds opposition fans shouting annoying then he needs to grow a thicker skin.

This is not a big issue and I have no desire to turn it into one

Moaning is easy. I'm sorry I said anything...but I'll be screaming my head off again Tuesday night.Although I won't upset Stanley Gene

[gogledd]

I haven't said that anything was offensive from anyone

As Swinton fans I think as a whole we believed Cru played a petulant game plan. You can disagree and I'm sure you will

If your top man finds opposition fans shouting annoying then he needs to grow a thicker skin.

This is not a big issue and I have no desire to turn it into one

Moaning is easy. I'm sorry I said anything...but I'll be screaming my head off again Tuesday night.Although I won't upset Stanley Gene

I'm sure that Anthony and Stanley are use to hearing comments from opposition fans. I'm not sure we can all benefit from ignoring comments from those who have a polar-opposite view.

[LOYALION]

Gogledd, please don't think that I was referring to the conduct of your supporters of whom I was in the middle. I had a bit of lighthearted banter with them and took some in return. No problem there. What I'm talking about was the constant screaming for a penalty at EVERY and I mean EVERY ruck. We were either off side, lying on, interfering, anything they could think of. Now I know that each side sees things differently but please, at EVERY play the ball?

We were also constantly accused of cheating too, even at one point when we had the ball!

The ref was taking both sides back a good 12yds so it would look as if players (on both sides) were straying offside when they actually were not.

It was also a tough game with tempers being lost on both sides and a few cards being shown. That's the nature of a tight game but Dallimore was dishing it out a bit more than the rest I thought.

I hope your fans don't lose their passion for their club as I won't lose mine, but they'll certainly enjoy it more if they learn to watch their players more than the opposion during a game.

You're welcome any time!

[swann5]

The ref in this game scored 25 out of 100, lowest other ref score in championship one on Friday was 65 out of 100. never seen such a low score for  a ref in any rugby league game ever, so to say he was getting them back 12 yards is so wrong, u dont score 25 out of 100 if u are doing your job , he was bad worst ive ever seen , but in all that have to say we got a great welcome from Swinton club and your fans but £3.60 a pint is a bit steep. good luck for rest of season.

[gogledd]

Gogledd, please don't think that I was referring to the conduct of your supporters of whom I was in the middle. I had a bit of lighthearted banter with them and took some in return. No problem there. What I'm talking about was the constant screaming for a penalty at EVERY and I mean EVERY ruck. We were either off side, lying on, interfering, anything they could think of. Now I know that each side sees things differently but please, at EVERY play the ball?

We were also constantly accused of cheating too, even at one point when we had the ball!

The ref was taking both sides back a good 12yds so it would look as if players (on both sides) were straying offside when they actually were not.

It was also a tough game with tempers being lost on both sides and a few cards being shown. That's the nature of a tight game but Dallimore was dishing it out a bit more than the rest I thought.

I hope your fans don't lose their passion for their club as I won't lose mine, but they'll certainly enjoy it more if they learn to watch their players more than the opposion during a game.

You're welcome any time!

I was stood with the Cru fans too and although we did complain a lot at the officiating I wouldn't say it was EVERY play of the ball. The accusation of cheating occurred once when a Swinton player was holding one of our players on top of him in the tackle resulting in a Swinton penalty - from our point of view that's conning the ref and a reasonable call of cheating.

 

I disagree that the ref ever got players onside all game. Pleayers were at 8 yds or less when the ball wa actually played for MOST of the game. Dallimore was hot-headed but so were players from Swinton but he shouldn't get involved in dishing out his own form of justice.

 

We will stay passionate and I can't say our challenge to match officials will change much - particularly if we feel hard done by.

 

I hope all Swinton fans enjoy the return fixture. Bring some earplugs!!

[class of 63]

Just watched the game on Lions TV - how could the referee give that crucial penalty against Hawkyard - poor poor refereeing.

[mark richardson]

I agree. Even more crucially that high tackle on Robinson was outrageous

Granted we seemed to start the brawl where Rowland and Smith were binned.