Phew!! : Mon May 06, 2019 9:25 am  

Well, that was a 'breath-taking' game, yesterday!!

I have to say that, despite what we may think of our defence, Sheffield are to be applauded for their style of play, and inventiveness. In Anthony Thackeray, they must have one of the best half backs in the Championship - he was brilliant.

Fortunately, Sheffield's defence was just as vulnerable as ours and, in the end, our team spirit, Riddy's immaculate goal kicking, and the crowd, just pulled us through.

Once again, an excellent value-for-money game, at the LSV. Full marks to all involved.

Re: Phew!! : Mon May 06, 2019 11:19 am  

Excellent last 10 minutes, and first 5 mins of second half, the rest was largely awful.

Not a fan of the idea of having one player line up at full back when we defend, while someone else does it while we attack. Particularly when we have McNally playing on the wing. Either Marsh, Cox and Holroyd are injured (starting to wonder if the latter, along with Simms, were token signings to make numbers up), or Duffy is selecting a team to accommodate McNally, Brierley, Ridyard and Woods in the starting 13. An outside back or two is desperately needed.

Also, while I'm a fan of Higham, Hood and Eaves, having all 3 in the 17 leaves us effectively an interchange short. There were times in the second half we looked like we could've used some fresh legs in the middle. Final point, Hood was a tremendous signing, we look a far better team when he's on.

Re: Phew!! : Mon May 06, 2019 11:43 am  

LeythIg wrote:

Excellent last 10 minutes, and first 5 mins of second half, the rest was largely awful.

Not a fan of the idea of having one player line up at full back when we defend, while someone else does it while we attack. Particularly when we have McNally playing on the wing. Either Marsh, Cox and Holroyd are injured (starting to wonder if the latter, along with Simms, were token signings to make numbers up), or Duffy is selecting a team to accommodate McNally, Brierley, Ridyard and Woods in the starting 13. An outside back or two is desperately needed.

Also, while I'm a fan of Higham, Hood and Eaves, having all 3 in the 17 leaves us effectively an interchange short. There were times in the second half we looked like we could've used some fresh legs in the middle. Final point, Hood was a tremendous signing, we look a far better team when he's on.

Agreed - we seem unbalanced. Mind you, it was just as well that Eaves and Hood were on the pitch in the last ten minutes! That said, we aren't getting full value from our hookers - 20/30 minutes each, seems to be a bit of a waste.

As for outside backs, we've had two or three from Saints, who did so well, they got on Saints first team! (although none of them played at HKR yesterday)

All in all though, I feel a bit guilty criticising. Who would have thought, in November, that we would have a team lying equal third in the Championship? That's way better than our highly priced squad managed last season!

Re: Phew!! : Mon May 06, 2019 12:35 pm  

A great last 10 minutes and first 5 or 10 to start the second half, but our defence was poor, Josh Woods should learn to tackle, Sheff scored about 4or 5 breakaway tries,and passed the ball very quickly.
Thackeray had a blinder, they keep saying he’s a one trick pony,I love Duffs though came to the touchline for the last 15 minutes and wasn’t happy till we started playing ,again I agree about McNally being on the wing , and Andy Thorniley at centre, I like Hood very good player but can we accommodate Higham and Eaves.?
Still an important win , the next 4 matches will be crucial ,a great climax to the season.As a RB fan I think his defence has improved ,and he looks a more solid player now.Points difference could be important at the end so our defence must improve.
A great advert for the game though,I know the few Sheff fans near me were gutted.

Re: Phew!! : Mon May 06, 2019 8:43 pm  

No idea how we managed to win that one, 10 Mins left and we looked dead and buried - well done to the lads for not giving up and the North Stand in full voice, we wont get many exiting ends to a game like that one for a while.

Still amazed how they did it - Well done Leythers

Re: Phew!! : Mon May 06, 2019 8:45 pm  

Zulu01 wrote:

No idea how we managed to win that one, 10 Mins left and we looked dead and buried - well done to the lads for not giving up and the North Stand in full voice, we wont get many exiting ends to a game like that one for a while.

Still amazed how they did it - Well done Leythers

They probably remembered Rorks Drift.

Re: Phew!! : Mon May 06, 2019 8:58 pm  

charlie caroli wrote:

They probably remembered Rorks Drift.

It was not disimilar the odds were stacked against us

Good prediction by the way on the prediction thread - well done !!!

Re: Phew!! : Mon May 06, 2019 9:47 pm  

Zulu01 wrote:

:D

It was not disimilar the odds were stacked against us

Good prediction by the way on the prediction thread - well done !!!

Just lucky on the prediction thread,was more lucky with the Joker.
As for Leigh at 24 -38 I had said it was game over,i did say get the ball to Ryan ,it shows never give up,the Sheff fans around us were gutted,a great game , but I don’t think we should have been in the position in the first place.Sheff scored maybe 4 or 5 breakaway tries,we should have nailed Thackeray.Still it was a Box Office finish, and we all went home happy.

Re: Phew!! : Mon May 06, 2019 11:15 pm  

Ive seen the highlights and cant wait to see the full game. Riddy and Ryan looked to be involved in lots from the highlights. Great win and the boys looked to believe it possible from the way they quickly ran the ball back for conversions for those last tries. Great spirt shown !

Re: Phew!! : Tue May 07, 2019 11:51 am  

The one howler in selection was Cox, he was available but not selected - and he can play wing/centre. We played the game with 4 half backs and 3 hookers due to a lack of bodies. Great win in the circumstances but we must build around McNally at FB with Brierley/Ridyard at halves, and hope we find a centre/wing soon - that's if we don't play Laithwaite who played centre in SL more than once