24 Mar: SL: London Broncos v Hull FC KO 3pm

[MZH]

Christ we made hard work of that.

[Man of Kent]

Thriller. Really enjoyed that. Great turnout by the Hull fans

[Lowdesert]

3 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Thriller. Really enjoyed that. Great turnout by the Hull fans

Close games will bring in the crowds.  What was the attendance btw

[MZH]

Didn't sound like a vintage Hull performance, but it's proving to be a tricky place to go and get a result, so I'm just pleased to get the job done in the end.

[westlondonfan]

Hull looked better than Wigan or Wakefield. Still very close game. London nearly won it in the last 10 seconds.

[MZH]

59 minutes ago, Denton Rovers RLFC said:

Looks like Shaul is out for the rest of the game, not sure what happened.

Another pretty bad head knock, which is a worry after he missed a game only a few weeks ago because of concussion. Commentary said he had a big bag of ice on his head on the sideline, so must have been swelling up a bit.

They weren't sure what happened either but said a couple of people near them said he copped an elbow from Yates. Don't know if it was foul play or not.

[Dunbar]

Just heading back from the game.

FC were the better team and deserved the win but this London team is full off resilience... again well behind with 20 odd minutes to play and searching for the win on the last play of the game.

They must be a great team to support as they never know when they are beaten. 

[Aidan Putt]

Was a cracking game, Dixon put the ball down inches from the whitewash in the penultimate set and whilst we might only have levelled it up I hope we don’t rue those missed chances in September.

Very pleased with how competitive we continue to be. 

[nadera78]

Hull were deserved winners - too big and too strong for us. Not a huge amount of skill on display from them but a very powerful team with a lot of damaging runners. And a couple of horrible tries conceded by London in the second half  - the Kelly one in particular was awful in several ways - made it very difficult for us.

But...this Broncos team never, ever gives in and fights to the end. We also move the ball very well in attacking positions and despite being outplayed overall we still could have nicked it at the end.

Big game next week, unfortunately one I'm going to miss.

 

[Treize Hombres]

First visit to the Trailfinders and was very impressed with the set up. Good compact stadium which is adequate for the Broncos needs. 

A few thousand in the ground made for a good atmosphere and a thrilling end to the game. Full credit to the Hull faithful for making the journey. London proved that they will be no pushovers this season 

[Futtocks]

Looks like Tanya Arnold enjoyed her visit too.

[Man of Kent]

1 hour ago, nadera78 said:

Hull were deserved winners - too big and too strong for us. Not a huge amount of skill on display from them but a very powerful team with a lot of damaging runners.

I’d agree with that. Powerful but nothing special. 

[THE RED ROOSTER]

Penrith to Ealing and without intentionally doing a Leon Pryce I would rarther be in Ealing especially, as can be seen in the picture earlier in the thread, when its graced by the smile of Tanya Arnold. taller in the flesh than I expected.

Less a game of two halves than a game of four quarters, pretty much even in the first half withb the Broncos ahead 14-10 at the interval and deservedly so. The third quarter saw the traditional Broncos 20 minute clocking off in which Hull sealed the game. The piece de la resistance being Rhys Williams "attempt" to tackle Albert Kelly for the breakaway fourth try, In truth defensively the Broncos conceded five soft tries and then redeeemed themselves in the final quarter with a come back brace ending the game camped on the FC line at the Final Hooter.

In my opinion two points lost which could haunt the Broncos. we could end up as the most competitive side to go down. There was a problem in that third quarter with the penalty count going in reverse and London lack of composure even at the end where Jordan Abdull was exhorting the side to remember you dont need to score off every set. Broncos MOM The London Phantom, Keiran Dixon the more touches Kieran got the better we looked.

I have a soft spot for Hull based on the hospitable way Hull FC fans have treated me when I have visited West Hull I write as I find and I have never had a problem with them. They came in large numbers and in my opinion they are a big club. Therefore I am sorry to say that they are not a top four side on what I have seen.

[Old Frightful]

10 hours ago, Treize Hombres said:

First visit to the Trailfinders and was very impressed with the set up. Good compact stadium which is adequate for the Broncos needs. 

A few thousand in the ground made for a good atmosphere and a thrilling end to the game. Full credit to the Hull faithful for making the journey. London proved that they will be no pushovers this season 

My first visit to the Trailfinders also and, I'm sorry, but I couldn't disagree more about being impressed with the set up.

I've no idea whether or not London have any kind of dispensation to sort their ground out with it being their first season in SL for a while but, if not, Cas and Wakey might as well stop worrying about their grounds.

There's a decent stand at one end that looks like it's recently been erected, not sure if that came about due to London's promotion, but aside from that, reasonable viewing and seating is few and far between and the toilets are something you might expect on a building site. All in it looks like an amateur athletics stadium or a lower league part time football ground. London need a far better stadium than this one, their team are making a good fist of it in 2019 SL  and the ground lets them down.

On to the game and it panned out similar to what I expected. Individually, Hull's backs were better than their opponents and that's where we won the game, I thought. Carlos Tuimavave is having an outstanding season and the other threequarters weren't far behind him yesterday. I thought London had the edge in organisation, their passing and running angles were better than Hull's with Jordan Abdull having a great game but even so they struggled to break down Hull's defence. They were also smarter than Hull in the discipline department, with a one sided penalty count from Mr Mikalauskas not doing them any harm in the first half. Second half and with things evening up a bit on that front, Hull managed four unanswered tries which I thought had put the game to bed, but London certainly don't know when they're beaten and the last couple of minutes were very tense. I also thought both teams were fortunate to have certain tries allowed, Pellisier looked to have grounded the ball on Kelly's leg and Faraimo's second had doubts about both in touch and grounding.

Strangest moment of the game for me was Albert Kelly's run after intercepting Abdull's pass on his own 20m line. Most in his position pin their ears back and go for it but Kelly strolled for the first 40m seemingly encouraging the London defenders to catch up with him, in fact, we all assumed the ref had blown for an infringement. We put it down to Kelly taking the p*ss in Jake Connor's absence. 

 

 

[Treize Hombres]

1 hour ago, Old Frightful said:

My first visit to the Trailfinders also and, I'm sorry, but I couldn't disagree more about being impressed with the set up.

I've no idea whether or not London have any kind of dispensation to sort their ground out with it being their first season in SL for a while but, if not, Cas and Wakey might as well stop worrying about their grounds.

There's a decent stand at one end that looks like it's recently been erected, not sure if that came about due to London's promotion, but aside from that, reasonable viewing and seating is few and far between and the toilets are something you might expect on a building site. All in it looks like an amateur athletics stadium or a lower league part time football ground. London need a far better stadium than this one, their team are making a good fist of it in 2019 SL  and the ground lets them down.

On to the game and it panned out similar to what I expected. Individually, Hull's backs were better than their opponents and that's where we won the game, I thought. Carlos Tuimavave is having an outstanding season and the other threequarters weren't far behind him yesterday. I thought London had the edge in organisation, their passing and running angles were better than Hull's with Jordan Abdull having a great game but even so they struggled to break down Hull's defence. They were also smarter than Hull in the discipline department, with a one sided penalty count from Mr Mikalauskas not doing them any harm in the first half. Second half and with things evening up a bit on that front, Hull managed four unanswered tries which I thought had put the game to bed, but London certainly don't know when they're beaten and the last couple of minutes were very tense. I also thought both teams were fortunate to have certain tries allowed, Pellisier looked to have grounded the ball on Kelly's leg and Faraimo's second had doubts about both in touch and grounding.

Strangest moment of the game for me was Albert Kelly's run after intercepting Abdull's pass on his own 20m line. Most in his position pin their ears back and go for it but Kelly strolled for the first 40m seemingly encouraging the London defenders to catch up with him, in fact, we all assumed the ref had blown for an infringement. We put it down to Kelly taking the p*ss in Jake Connor's absence. 

 

 

You are quite correct with regards to the builders toilets but there were much better facilities at the other end of the ground. I suppose London's surprise elevation to SL means some corners have to be cut to meet the demands of larger crowds.

I was sat in the smaller stand behind the sticks and had no problem viewing the game.

What impressed me the most about the set up was the friendliness and politeness of every staff member I encountered, something sadly lacking at some of our bigger clubs. And the London supporters themselves are a credit to our game.

I don't support either team but just happened to be near London yesterday. I will definitely be returning in the near future. 

Your are also spot on about the Albert Kelly try.....bizarre to say the least

[Dunbar]

For the Hull fans who stayed at the far side with the larger stand - it looked like a decent stand but the surrounding  facilities were a bit sparse.  We passed by this stand collected some beers (3 for £10, not bad) and headed for the side... there was another decent bar inside and we stood next to the pitch to watch the game.

On a sunny spring or summers day this will be a really nice place to watch rugby... probably a bit drab in the middle of winter but we don't have to worry about that expect for the extreme ends of the season.

Of course if London have aspirations of five figure crowds Trailfinders is not sustainable but for now it is a decent place to watch a game and I will be back quite a few times this year.

Ideally London should have got a 20 or 30 year tenancy at the new Brentford ground and finally build some legacy but these things are never easy.

On the game, as I have already said, London have bags of heart and decent attacking structures and throw the ball around well.

Put simply Hull had better players but London were better coached.

[Old Frightful]

28 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

On the game, as I have already said, London have bags of heart and decent attacking structures and throw the ball around well.

Put simply Hull had better players but London were better coached.

How I saw it also, at the risk of setting Denton off on one, agree with that.

[Jarv]

16 hours ago, Treize Hombres said:

First visit to the Trailfinders and was very impressed with the set up. Good compact stadium which is adequate for the Broncos needs. 

A few thousand in the ground made for a good atmosphere and a thrilling end to the game. Full credit to the Hull faithful for making the journey. London proved that they will be no pushovers this season 

I enjoyed the visit - it just seemed much more "friendly" than previous visits to London and the correct size - rather than empty seats.

Only complaint and observation - not enough toilets (although sounds like looking in the wrong place) and perhaps someone at the club should look at where away buses are told to park (or advise). The buses from Hull caused a nightmare for traffic on Scotch Common. Wont make many friends if blocking roads and with horns honking!

 

[Lowdesert]

2200 at the game with approx. 1000 from Hull?

[Ullman]

13 hours ago, Old Frightful said:

My first visit to the Trailfinders also and, I'm sorry, but I couldn't disagree more about being impressed with the set up.

I've no idea whether or not London have any kind of dispensation to sort their ground out with it being their first season in SL for a while but, if not, Cas and Wakey might as well stop worrying about their grounds.

There's a decent stand at one end that looks like it's recently been erected, not sure if that came about due to London's promotion, but aside from that, reasonable viewing and seating is few and far between and the toilets are something you might expect on a building site. All in it looks like an amateur athletics stadium or a lower league part time football ground. London need a far better stadium than this one, their team are making a good fist of it in 2019 SL  and the ground lets them down.

On to the game and it panned out similar to what I expected. Individually, Hull's backs were better than their opponents and that's where we won the game, I thought. Carlos Tuimavave is having an outstanding season and the other threequarters weren't far behind him yesterday. I thought London had the edge in organisation, their passing and running angles were better than Hull's with Jordan Abdull having a great game but even so they struggled to break down Hull's defence. They were also smarter than Hull in the discipline department, with a one sided penalty count from Mr Mikalauskas not doing them any harm in the first half. Second half and with things evening up a bit on that front, Hull managed four unanswered tries which I thought had put the game to bed, but London certainly don't know when they're beaten and the last couple of minutes were very tense. I also thought both teams were fortunate to have certain tries allowed, Pellisier looked to have grounded the ball on Kelly's leg and Faraimo's second had doubts about both in touch and grounding.

Strangest moment of the game for me was Albert Kelly's run after intercepting Abdull's pass on his own 20m line. Most in his position pin their ears back and go for it but Kelly strolled for the first 40m seemingly encouraging the London defenders to catch up with him, in fact, we all assumed the ref had blown for an infringement. We put it down to Kelly taking the p*ss in Jake Connor's absence. 

 

 

The closest experience I've had to yesterday's was watching amateur or Academy games at Brantingham Park, very enjoyable with a decent, accessible and reasonably priced bar in the main clubhouse but overall falls well short of the facilities you'd expect at a game in the top division.  Still, I'm sure everybody at London is well aware of that and the new stand shows they're making progress. I hope they can avoid relegation and continue with that.

As you know, we were standing only yards away from the corner where Faraimo scored and I thought he was in touch but the three officials were all even closer than me. I was close enough to hear the ref and touchie speak to each other and neither of them had any doubt it was a try. One thing about being able to stand that close to the sidelines made me realise what a beast of a player Faraimo is. The London defenders just couldn't handle him for Griffin's first try. 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

On 3/24/2019 at 5:45 PM, Dunbar said:

Just heading back from the game.

FC were the better team and deserved the win but this London team is full off resilience... again well behind with 20 odd minutes to play and searching for the win on the last play of the game.

They must be a great team to support as they never know when they are beaten. 

Yep- at the moment it's great.....certainly been through the over the years though I can assure you

[Ullman]

On 3/24/2019 at 6:00 PM, nadera78 said:

Hull were deserved winners - too big and too strong for us. Not a huge amount of skill on display from them but a very powerful team with a lot of damaging runners. And a couple of horrible tries conceded by London in the second half  - the Kelly one in particular was awful in several ways - made it very difficult for us.

But...this Broncos team never, ever gives in and fights to the end. We also move the ball very well in attacking positions and despite being outplayed overall we still could have nicked it at the end.

Big game next week, unfortunately one I'm going to miss.

 

I could see how the Kelly try was awful from a London perspective but that one-handed interception was a fantastic piece of skill. Kelly pulls stuff out of the bag that other players can only dream of.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

Great close game in the sun and got nicely mullered at the end with a couple of union mates who are now converts. Hull fans we chatted and drank with were awesome too..a credit to their city and team

Also enjoyed chatting with Tanya Arnold for a bit in the bar....I'd had plenty so not sure I impressed....she's always been a looker but definitely better in real life 

[Denton Rovers RLFC]

9 hours ago, Old Frightful said:

How I saw it also, at the risk of setting Denton off on one, agree with that.

1983 CC final, beaten by a team that had a never say die attitude and pulled for each other, exploited the oppositions weaknesses.

Us, a team pretty much internationals 1-15 but badly coached and out enthused, that's why I look at the Bunting years and say we massively under-performed with the players and ridiculously deep squad we had, his coaching was rubbish (I won't repeat what he said at half time that deflated players at one cup tie against York at home when winning 20-0!), he just happened to have some of the best players in the world in the side at the same time.

[Denton Rovers RLFC]

2 minutes ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Great close game in the sun and got nicely mullered at the end with a couple of union mates who are now converts. Hull fans we chatted and drank with were awesome too..a credit to their city and team

Also enjoyed chatting with Tanya Arnold for a bit in the bar....I'd had plenty so not sure I impressed....she's always been a looker but definitely better in real life 

The amount of disgusting abuse she got not that long ago, really vile stuff just because she had a slightly different voice to some other women, typical cretins