Sun 22 Aug: The Betfred Championship Match Thread

[The Blues Ox]

5 hours ago, John Drake said:

Above game now postponed.

How is that going to affect things? That would be a game that London would probably have won, does this give Haven more of a sniff?

[georgeb1]

2 hours ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

Will be tough, but I really hope they can get the win though. Would love to see them beat Whitehaven.

Agree , but don't risk money on it

[Blind side johnny]

On 17/08/2021 at 20:05, JonM said:

It's easily the nicest ground in Yorkshire to visit as an away fan, even without free biscuits.

Not for all away fans it isn't.

[Blind side johnny]

H H H P A A A

[The Blues Ox]

Batley Bulldogs v Sheffield Eagles    Batley at home should have too much for Sheffield. Batley by 20.
Bradford Bulls v Swinton Lions  Easy Bulls win. Bulls by 36.
Featherstone Rovers v Dewsbury Rams    Easy Fev win. Fev by 42.
Oldham v Toulouse Olympique    Easy Toulouse win. Toulouse by 48.
Widnes Vikings v Halifax Panthers    Form says Fax but we are short of players this week and could slip up. Widnes by 4.
York City Knights v Whitehaven    Another tight one with Haven in form just going for them to edge it. Haven by 6.

[distantdog]

1 hour ago, Blind side johnny said:

Not for all away fans it isn't.

Come on BSJ, you know you love it as much as the next away supporter!

[Chris Taylor]

1 hour ago, Blind side johnny said:

Not for all away fans it isn't.

He's right, you can't beat Post Office Road. 

[The Art of Hand and Foot]

Yeds by a last minute drop.

[JonM]

On 19/08/2021 at 21:40, Chris Taylor said:

He's right, you can't beat Post Office Road. 

LOL. I guess it's warmer than Oldham, drier than Headingley, a better view of the pitch than Belle Vue and with less chance of disappearing down a sinkhole in the terracing than Odsal. It's still the only ground where I definitely wouldn't take any family members with me though.

[dkw]

4 minutes ago, JonM said:

LOL. I guess it's warmer than Oldham

Thats a low bar, the Arctic circle is warmer than Oldham. 

[Chris Taylor]

9 minutes ago, JonM said:

 It's still the only ground where I definitely wouldn't take any family members with me though.

Sorry you feel this way Jon.

[Robin Evans]

1 hour ago, JonM said:

LOL. I guess it's warmer than Oldham, drier than Headingley, a better view of the pitch than Belle Vue and with less chance of disappearing down a sinkhole in the terracing than Odsal. It's still the only ground where I definitely wouldn't take any family members with me though.

I'll take my grandkids should either of them show any desire to watch fev.... the grandboy has a shirt....and a ball.... and goes to a tots team.... so I'm hopeful.... 

Plenty of room for all sorts at fev  

[kiggy]

listening to Oldham Community Radio here in the South of France, they have the Oldham v TO match on soon.

Suzi Quatro on at the moment...lovely. 

[Fevrover]

HT Fev 36 Rams 6 ,interception try full length of field from Rams.

[Lowdesert]

Close at half time in the Bulls v Swinton.  14 - 12.

Must be the best name in all leagues.  Swinton FB - Geronimo Doyle.

Beats Sitting Bull Meninga anyway.

[Fevrover]

Excellent win for York.

[JonM]

Widnes 25 Halifax 6 FT.

Halifax's 9 match winning streak comes to an end, as does Widnes 5 match losing streak.

[The Blues Ox]

1 hour ago, ShropshireBull said:

Widnes showing they are a few players short of being a playoff team next season. 

I wouldnt under estimate just how poor we were today despite having a few players missing. I'd predicted Widnes to sneak it when I saw our squad but the performance itself was abject. Its been coming though we have won a few games recently we probably deserved to lose. The target was 3 out of our last 5 but I would have prefered not to have to pick up a win up at Haven the way we have been playing and Swinton look like they could give us a game next week although we should have a few players back next week and one of them thankfully is a goal kicker. The Fax goal attempt lottery has not been fun to watch. Today it was JWH's turn to have a bash, nails one from the touch line then one 5 yards to the left of the posts misses by a good 15 yards. 

[Lowdesert]

2 hours ago, Fevrover said:

Excellent win for York.

York need to get some momentum.  V Bradford next week is another opportunity and I hope they can do it.

Is it the same timekeeper?

[The Blues Ox]

2 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

Well you cant play well every week. Making playoffs is sometimes just about grinding out wins when you play poorly. 

Widnes lost to you by a point before and threw away a win vs Newcastle.  Also last week they lost by 1 point to Dewsbury. They'd be in a playoff hunt with a 4 point swing.  York 2019 also.   

All about getting players to peak for playoffs now. 

We haven't played well for a number of weeks. Again though I wouldnt read too much in to the last Widnes game at the Shay as it made the water splash final look like a summers day. They should be in the mix next season but this season they have not been on the same level as the rest of the top 6 for the most part.

[JonM]

1 hour ago, The Blues Ox said:

I wouldnt under estimate just how poor we were today despite having a few players missing. I'd predicted Widnes to sneak it when I saw our squad but the performance itself was abject. Its been coming though we have won a few games recently we probably deserved to lose. 

Yes, lot of mistakes from Halifax, and Widnes best performance of the season (and probably the 2nd best performance was in the downpour at the Shay). I wonder whether Halifax having a few ex-Widnes players and Widnes having a few ex-Fax players is a factor there.

Neither side was able to name a full 21-man squad before the game. 

Nice to see what seemed like several hundred Halifax fans at Widnes. Been a long time since there's been away fans in that number.

[The Blues Ox]

3 minutes ago, JonM said:

Yes, lot of mistakes from Halifax, and Widnes best performance of the season (and probably the 2nd best performance was in the downpour at the Shay). I wonder whether Halifax having a few ex-Widnes players and Widnes having a few ex-Fax players is a factor there.

Neither side was able to name a full 21-man squad before the game. 

Nice to see what seemed like several hundred Halifax fans at Widnes. Been a long time since there's been away fans in that number.

I thought both teams were poor for most of the first half but we carried that on in the second half. Game changed on the short ten you took from the drop out part way through the first half. Then in the 2nd half Widnes were by far the better team and played some nice rugby. Nice to see Tyrer scoring and Ive always rated Grady and he had a good game along with Craven who were on a different level to our half backs today.

[Spidey]

32 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

I thought both teams were poor for most of the first half but we carried that on in the second half. Game changed on the short ten you took from the drop out part way through the first half. Then in the 2nd half Widnes were by far the better team and played some nice rugby. Nice to see Tyrer scoring and Ive always rated Grady and he had a good game along with Craven who were on a different level to our half backs today.

Halifax got their game plan wrong. Forcing everything. 5 drives and a kick would have beaten Widnes today. Taking that penalty in the first half (that was missed) killed the momentum you were building up

[The Blues Ox]

10 hours ago, Spidey said:

Halifax got their game plan wrong. Forcing everything. 5 drives and a kick would have beaten Widnes today. Taking that penalty in the first half (that was missed) killed the momentum you were building up

We just wern't at the races which was no surprise with the team we had out but that had nowt to do with it, twice in the second half we passed to a player in front when both players were stationary and the guy was about 3 yards in front. Grix said afterwards theres not much point even doing a video review on that game it was that bad. 

That kick at goal was funny as we all joked why are we going for goal when we don't have a kicker on the pitch but Woody had just nailed that one from the touchline. Turned out it were beginners luck. 

[JonM]

3 hours ago, The Blues Ox said:

That kick at goal was funny as we all joked why are we going for goal when we don't have a kicker on the pitch but Woody had just nailed that one from the touchline. Turned out it were beginners luck. 

Pretty sure he kicked in a couple of games for Hemel or Skolars that I watched.