Sat 28th-Sun 29th Sept: The Betfred Championship Match Thread

[creditwhereitsdews]

Was very happy to see my team win after a very tough season to say the least. Sheffield should have wiped the floor with us today given the players they had out, especially given that we were under strength and only named 3 subs.

The body language of the Eagles players suggested something may be afoot – one or two of them were even laughing and joking when the hooter went. They only missed out on the playoffs by 22 points difference too. If that was my season down the swanny all because I'd lost to Dewsbury I wouldn't be smiling. 

Edited September 29, 2024 by creditwhereitsdews

[YCKonstantine]

Dewsbury with the ultimate troll move

[Industria ditat]

36 minutes ago, doc said:

Widnes back in play offs. 2018 was last time, I think. Hopefully we can give York a game.

C'mon you Vikings!!

I think Coleman deserves plenty of credit. On paper he doesn't have a very strong squad but finishing 5th means he's got the best out of them. We could get a result against York but realistically that's as far as we can expect to go. If we can strengthen the team for next year we could go a step further.

[Expatknight]

14 minutes ago, creditwhereitsdews said:

Was very happy to see my team win after a very tough season to say the least. Sheffield should have wiped the floor with us today given the players they had out, especially given that we were under strength and only named 3 subs.

The body language of the Eagles players suggested something may be afoot – one or two of them were even laughing and joking when the hooter went. They only missed out on the playoffs by 22 points difference too. If that was my season down the swanny all because I'd lost to Dewsbury I wouldn't be smiling. 

If that was a horse race there would have been a stewards enquiry!
All credit to Dewsbury though.

[creditwhereitsdews]

10 minutes ago, Expatknight said:

If that was a horse race there would have been a stewards enquiry!
All credit to Dewsbury though.

Yes, we defended superbly and showed an unusual patience and control with the ball that we have not really seen this year.

[sentoffagain2]

   Dewsbury with players suspended pulled off one of the seasons shock results.Fev scrape into the play offs by the skin of their teeth.I thought Barrow to beat Widnes would be our get out of jail card as i didn't think we could beat York.A poor season drags on for another week at least.

[The Mighty Trin]

Great applause at the end for Luke Gale, Jemain McGilveray and the departing players. Easy in the end but did feel Donny gifted us a few soft tries late on and were just happy to have the season finish. Great turn out from them too, they seemed to be enjoyingitover in the west terrace. 4 hour diverted train journey via Carlisle upto the capital now but was worth it.

Up the Trin

[The Mighty Trin]

24 minutes ago, sentoffagain2 said:

   Dewsbury with players suspended pulled off one of the seasons shock results.Fev scrape into the play offs by the skin of their teeth.I thought Barrow to beat Widnes would be our get out of jail card as i didn't think we could beat York.A poor season drags on for another week at least.

I personally think Sheffield frew that one, ironically losing to a weekend Dewsbury team don't think they wanted to play the Trin again if they made it to the final, not being big headed but gets you thinking

[sentoffagain2]

Just now, The Mighty Trin said:

I personally think Sheffield frew that one, ironically losing to a weekend Dewsbury team don't think they wanted to play the Trin again if they made it to the final, not being big headed but gets you thinking

   Sheffield only won one of their last 8 games and that was at Featherstone.They have fallen off a cliff since Aston was self suspended.

[JonM]

Cracking game at Barrow - my heart was racing for the last couple of minutes. Couple of great tries from the home team, worth catching on the highlights. Always nice to see how many kids there are in the crowd at Craven Park. Thought I heard the crowd announced as 2950 something, but that seems surprisingly high, so maybe I misheard.

Very happy with Widnes finishing fifth, our highest finish since 2011, with what seemed a weaker squad than last couple of years. Allan Coleman seems to be the first coach in 20 years who doesn't have a section of the fans against him, too.

I wonder whether the York v Widnes game will be moved to Friday or Saturday to avoid clashing with women's final?

[The Mighty Trin]

18 minutes ago, sentoffagain2 said:

   Sheffield only won one of their last 8 games and that was at Featherstone.They have fallen off a cliff since Aston was self suspended.

Very true but still should have been too strong for Dewsbury imho

[Tommygilf]

30 minutes ago, sentoffagain2 said:

   Sheffield only won one of their last 8 games and that was at Featherstone.They have fallen off a cliff since Aston was self suspended.

It's a concerning trend, one that really makes you think...

That squad is better than those results

[morty]

Barrow v Widnes was a brilliant advert for the game 

[HaxbyKnight]

23 minutes ago, JonM said:

 

I wonder whether the York v Widnes game will be moved to Friday or Saturday to avoid clashing with women's final?

Although it's not yet confirmed, it seems the game will be played on Saturday.

[sentoffagain2]

24 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

It's a concerning trend, one that really makes you think...

That squad is better than those results

  I think on their budget Mark gets the best players he can for the positions but then there is little left to bulk out the squad to 25/26 players.So towards the end of regular season players are busted and playing with injuries or worn out by lack of rotation.

[JonM]

22 minutes ago, HaxbyKnight said:

Although it's not yet confirmed, it seems the game will be played on Saturday.

A measure of how far women's RL has come when a men's play-off game is moved to avoid a clash. Well done York.

[HaxbyKnight]

8 minutes ago, JonM said:

A measure of how far women's RL has come when a men's play-off game is moved to avoid a clash. Well done York.

Obviously the Women's final is planned well in advance, and with the Valkyrie making it to the final, it  makes sense for York to play on a different day to let their fans see both games. Play off games are often switched about to suit television demands, so for once the club has been put first.

[JonM]

Still, not something that anyone would've imagined happening a decade ago.

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

1 hour ago, JonM said:

Cracking game at Barrow - my heart was racing for the last couple of minutes. Couple of great tries from the home team, worth catching on the highlights. Always nice to see how many kids there are in the crowd at Craven Park. Thought I heard the crowd announced as 2950 something, but that seems surprisingly high, so maybe I misheard.

Very happy with Widnes finishing fifth, our highest finish since 2011, with what seemed a weaker squad than last couple of years. Allan Coleman seems to be the first coach in 20 years who doesn't have a section of the fans against him, too.

I wonder whether the York v Widnes game will be moved to Friday or Saturday to avoid clashing with women's final?

I thought the announced crowd was something like 3,168. It certainly looked a decent attendance, plenty in the main stand. As for the game, seemed to follow the same pattern as most Widnes games this season. Very tight, held your attention to the end. After our warm up and 1895 cup games I thought we could get relegated,  to be competitive in just about every game this season was way above my expectations. Just been on Barrow forum. You were right Jon, 2,956 attendance evidently.

Edited September 29, 2024 by Jill Halfpenny fan

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

19 minutes ago, JonM said:

A measure of how far women's RL has come when a men's play-off game is moved to avoid a clash. Well done York.

Do Widnes get any say in this?

[JonM]

3 minutes ago, Jill Halfpenny fan said:

After our warm up and 1895 cup games I thought we could get relegated

Yes, me too, and I suspect most Widnes fans thought the same. 

Been confirmed as 2950 something, the attendance. Their previous highest this season was 2245 against Wakefield, which is why I was doubtful it was so high.

Thought Brad Walker took the jibes from the Widnes fans in good spirit. Luke Cresswell at full back was impressive for Barrow too.

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

1 minute ago, JonM said:

Yes, me too, and I suspect most Widnes fans thought the same. 

Been confirmed as 2950 something, the attendance. Their previous highest this season was 2245 against Wakefield, which is why I was doubtful it was so high.

Thought Brad Walker took the jibes from the Widnes fans in good spirit. Luke Cresswell at full back was impressive for Barrow too.

Everybody seemed quite happy at the end, not often that happens. Have to get my ears cleaned out though.

[HaxbyKnight]

25 minutes ago, Jill Halfpenny fan said:

Do Widnes get any say in this?

I may be wrong, but I think the play offs were arranged for the weekend of 5/6 October, and not for specific dates, so I would imagine all 4 teams involved would need to be flexible.

[SUPERSTUD]

Attended Dewsbury v Sheffield. Deary Deary me what is going on at Sheffield? They were a right rabble today and completely out enthused by what was predominantly a recent team of amateurs. Something is drastically wrong behind the scenes at Sheffield.

[SUPERSTUD]

Fax getting beat at a downtrodden Haven is another load of can’t be bothered end of season tripe. Clear out well and truly needed and long overdue. I would definitely not have been able to trust that group of players to go there and get a result if more depended upon it.