Re: Whitehaven (A) : Sat Feb 13, 2016 9:16 pm  

Managed to get to the ground in time for kick off, no thanks to google maps. What it calls Whitehaven RL is a swimming pool and gym. Best part of the day, apart from the win, is the weird place names up in Cumbria

Re: Whitehaven (A) : Sat Feb 13, 2016 9:40 pm  

roger daly wrote:

Without checking what score was Whitehaven away last year, I seem to recall it was a bit closer. First 2 fixtures is an improvement on same games last season

Have we knocked Sheffield off the top

We won 32-16 last season at Whitehaven, so today's result is indeed a big improvement on that.

Re: Whitehaven (A) : Sat Feb 13, 2016 9:44 pm  

roger daly wrote:

Without checking what score was Whitehaven away last year, I seem to recall it was a bit closer. First 2 fixtures is an improvement on same games last season

Have we knocked Sheffield off the top

Sheffield still top. Another converted try would have done it.

How did Clark and lovegrove go? Didn't get mentioned much in commentary much so assume they didn't have howlers. Think only mention was Clark kicking in last straight to haven FB.

Re: Whitehaven (A) : Sat Feb 13, 2016 10:55 pm  

How's Haggerty going for you? Was always a good skillful player for Leigh

Re: Whitehaven (A) : Sat Feb 13, 2016 11:42 pm  

mat wrote:

Sheffield still top. Another converted try would have done it.

How did Clark and lovegrove go? Didn't get mentioned much in commentary much so assume they didn't have howlers. Think only mention was Clark kicking in last straight to haven FB.

At the ground it was hard to keep track of the players as the PA guy was more interested in being the next Adam Johnson than actually doing his job. TBH, Whitehaven is not a very well run club. Most places you go, there is some signage up telling you where the stadium is. But not in Whitehaven. It's probably why their crowds are so low, no one actually knows the club exists. Oh and their website domain is up for grabs, guess no one kept up the payments on that.

But anyway, all the forwards got stuck in, which was needed as the pitch looked like the Somme after an open air rock festival. For one of Pitts' tries, the ball was kicked up into the air then stopped dead when it hit the deck. No bounce, no roll, just a dead stop

Re: Whitehaven (A) : Sun Feb 14, 2016 11:32 am  

Decent win on the very boggy pitch. Defended very well. Got sloppy in some areas, particularly not finding touch twice. Pitch was very boggy and always a leveller so good to rack up 40.

I thought Mitch Clark was outstanding. He probably took the ball in more than Lauaki did all year. Very aggressive in both attack and defence. Was a real handful for Whitehaven. Lovegrove was solid enough but I think he's been out a while.

Mathers dropped 2 balls, one which cost a try. Was struggling again towards the end and went on wing a few times. Understandable but we can't afford this against Leigh. Omari Caro again went well for me. Haggerty got through some work and again did 70+ mins.

All in all a good win at a place that could have been a banana skin.

When we have all our props fit I think we have a real strong pack. Sidlow and Clough will get proper rests which means we'll get the best out of them, and when they are replaced, their replacements can actually contribute to them team.

Potential is definitely there if Lowes selects the right players and uses his bench properly (which he did today TBF)

[Bulliac]

Re: Whitehaven (A) : Sun Feb 14, 2016 11:56 am  

found it fairly hard to comment on the game, to be honest. When standing behind the posts, in the murk it was pretty impossible to see what was going on much beyond half way. I'm a bit surprised they are allowed to use those lights for matches as they were far from adequate, which made the decision to play with a 6:30 kick off all the more baffling. It certainly didn't bring in much of a crowd either, so if that was the reason for changing from Sunday afternoon I think they can mark it down as a fail. Thought our following was clearly more than theirs and definitely louder. Anyone know what the official crowd was - it doesn't say on the Bulls' site?

Re: Whitehaven (A) : Sun Feb 14, 2016 12:38 pm  

Bulliac wrote:

found it fairly hard to comment on the game, to be honest. When standing behind the posts, in the murk it was pretty impossible to see what was going on much beyond half way. I'm a bit surprised they are allowed to use those lights for matches as they were far from adequate, which made the decision to play with a 6:30 kick off all the more baffling. It certainly didn't bring in much of a crowd either, so if that was the reason for changing from Sunday afternoon I think they can mark it down as a fail. Thought our following was clearly more than theirs and definitely louder. Anyone know what the official crowd was - it doesn't say on the Bulls' site?

Strangely it was announced at half time as being just under 900, and looking round the crowd id say at least 600 were from Bradford

[Bulliac]

Re: Whitehaven (A) : Sun Feb 14, 2016 2:04 pm  

roofaldo2 wrote:

Strangely it was announced at half time as being just under 900, and looking round the crowd id say at least 600 were from Bradford

Ha, you must be the only one I've spoken to who could make out a word the guy on the PA said! The PA was to communication what the floodlights were to vision....the sum total of which, pretty much left me in a fog....

Not trying to be nasty to 'Haven, heaven knows they must have all sorts of problems keeping their ship afloat, but if you know the lights aren't very good why change to an evening kick off when you can play in the daylight? Certainly not surprised the locals took the day off!

Re: Whitehaven (A) : Sun Feb 14, 2016 2:42 pm  

I went to watch Sheffield and Halifax Friday night. What can I say about their new ground, I'll wait till everyone else sees it

0-0 at half time, Halifax bombed 3-4 chances to score in first half when it looked easier to score than not. Second half Sheffield got a quick 20 points in 10 minutes to kill the game, they look very fast on attack. Mark Mexico showed how to run direct and very hard, Menzie Yere is so good to watch on attack, opposite man was put on his backside a few times, Mark Astons lad was very good at 7, a proper scrum half and my lad scored so that cost me a pound