Sun 25th May: The Betfred League One Match Thread

[Phil W]

Another good round of League 1 games. You have to think Keighley will turn the corner at some point (hopefully not next weekend, but likely!) and North Wales will be delighted with an away win, Goole were closer to Workington than I thought, Whitehaven looked to have battled but Midlands continue to win, Rochdale did a job and Thunder scored a try! My thoughts below https://www.philworld.co.uk/post/rochdale-v-newcastle-thunder-and-league-1-review

[HurricanesSC]

First half of the Whitehaven game was close, but mainly because Haven threw everything at us in the first 15 but then seemed to fizzle out a bit, which gave us room to go ahead. I get the impression Mark told them to up the ante in the second, and 26 unanswered points says it all really.

We won 9 games out of 20 last year which was a record, and it's incredible that we could have 7 wins from 9 at the halfway point if we beat Swinton next week. 

I have to say though that a fair few of the travelling Whitehaven fans (credit to them making the long journey) were amongst the worst I've seen at the Alex. Didn't stop abusing the officials for the full 80 minutes and some made a point of coming towards the tunnel to shout at them as they left the pitch each half. There's no doubt there were some questionable calls for both sides, but the rugby league call of "get em onside!!" wears thin when you scream it literally every play. 

[FearNothing]

Must admit, I've always found Haven fans to be 50-50, one half sound, have a laugh and banter, the other half pretty grubby. It's a shame for the good ones that the bad ones are as they are...

[OriginalMrC]

4 hours ago, HurricanesSC said:

First half of the Whitehaven game was close, but mainly because Haven threw everything at us in the first 15 but then seemed to fizzle out a bit, which gave us room to go ahead. I get the impression Mark told them to up the ante in the second, and 26 unanswered points says it all really.

We won 9 games out of 20 last year which was a record, and it's incredible that we could have 7 wins from 9 at the halfway point if we beat Swinton next week. 

I have to say though that a fair few of the travelling Whitehaven fans (credit to them making the long journey) were amongst the worst I've seen at the Alex. Didn't stop abusing the officials for the full 80 minutes and some made a point of coming towards the tunnel to shout at them as they left the pitch each half. There's no doubt there were some questionable calls for both sides, but the rugby league call of "get em onside!!" wears thin when you scream it literally every play. 

Its strange isn't it how different Whitehaven is from Workington.  Workington fans I've always found to be great. Always have good banter with them and a drink after the game.

[Wakefield Ram]

On 25/05/2025 at 21:32, Yorks Tim said:

I'd like to think there's a tipping point where the success, in terms of results and league position, is eventually noticed by the good people of Birmingham and another 300-or-so rock up to get involved and enjoy the ride. Hurricanes are a pretty good watch after all in a sport that is usually full of thrills and spills.

We do have a committed owner now who does have ambitions to take the club to the next level. A lot of work is being done done to market the club and build the relationships with the local community so you would hope that the crowds will come when that all pays off. It's pretty tough for us though in a huge stadium in an area which is diverse and dispersed - as in kicks to touch not landing in someone's back garden. 

I think Crusaders have the same challenges as Midlands but the circumstances are different in some ways.

  

 

 

Think Midlands are doing all the right things on and off the pitch. I do think though the play-offs system will make it very difficult for Midlands to get promoted and progress.

And that promotion would bring more away support, a higher standard on the field and bring better known teams and bigger away followings