Match Thoughts : Sat Mar 07, 2009 1:54 am  

Just got back from the game. Contrary to what I have read on here, I reckon Salford's fans are the friendliest i've come across and haven't got a bad word to say about them. Chatted to a bloke before the match and then met up with him after and he was very gracious in defeat.

Its the first time i've been to the Willows for some time and I really don't understand why they are so desperate for a new stadium unless they are unhappy with the location. 3 decent stands and a fair sized bar at the other end. Seems perfect to me.

Quins support was superb today, much better than the Castleford match anyway and a very reasonable turnout. Plenty of noise throughout, even when it looked like we were throwing the match away.

First half was sensational, everything we tried came off although Salford are truly woeful and I feel very sorry for them. Second half we obviously took our foot off the pedal and certain players (naming no names) decided they wanted to throw the ball around and panic when it wasn't needed. Total stupidity. Fortunately certain players redeemed themselves slightly with a decent solo effort towards the end of the match.

I thought Howell, Mbu, LMS and Golden had particularly good games. One thing I don't understand is why Tony Clubb is wasting his time on the wing, with Sharp inside him at centre? This happened for a sustained period in the second half, i'm not sure about the first half.

Overall though nothing to really get excited about, Salford were really terrible, paper thin defence on the line and I can't see anything other than the wooden spoon for them.

: Sat Mar 07, 2009 2:20 am  

Listy

As I recall Wellsy wasn't on the pitch in the second half and Sharp went to full back and Clubby on the wing. Very bizarre 20 minute start to the second half when we totally lost the plot but we did redeem it at the end. Was Mbu on all game? Thought he was great and Danny Orr played very well (the mad 20 excepted when none of them played well).

As for the Willows - it has a degree of character but what an area. One of the 3 annoying Salford young men who decided to stand behibd us asked me what I thought of the area. Much to his amusement I said I thought I had walked onto the set of Shameless!

: Sat Mar 07, 2009 2:42 am  

Paddock Punter wrote:

Listy

As I recall Wellsy wasn't on the pitch in the second half and Sharp went to full back and Clubby on the wing. Very bizarre 20 minute start to the second half when we totally lost the plot but we did redeem it at the end. Was Mbu on all game? Thought he was great and Danny Orr played very well (the mad 20 excepted when none of them played well).

As for the Willows - it has a degree of character but what an area. One of the 3 annoying Salford young men who decided to stand behibd us asked me what I thought of the area. Much to his amusement I said I thought I had walked onto the set of Shameless!

I see, that would make some sort of sense

: Sat Mar 07, 2009 10:53 am  

Did we make a mistake in the first half or was it a 100% completion rate on sets? Everything seemed to stick.

I thought Jo went well, Hecks took us forward, Dorny and Danny O ran the show on the back of the good go forward and Howell in particular ripped them open.

Chris Melling must have felt like Gardner at Saints with the ease at which he scored his tries.

The 20 minute spell in the second half was over confidence. I suppose we feel we could score everytime we got the ball and went a bid daft thus letting them get on top.

Good win. Bring on Smith and the Wire.

: Sat Mar 07, 2009 11:25 am  

The grumbles seem mostly to concern the kids around the ground rather than Salford fans. You hear these grumbles from Salford fans too.

I do worry for Salford that they've gone so far down the road of telling people it's essential for the club's progress to move to a new ground that they'll never be able to get people to The Willows again. Witness: 3367 last night.

: Sat Mar 07, 2009 12:29 pm  

My heart started to beat fast at 18 - 30 as it did look as if the Reds were going to storm back, I thought not again! bit give the Guy's credit, they lifted themselves and made sure the game was well and truly finished! we need more of that, so many Great performances what a player Louis has become.

: Sat Mar 07, 2009 8:48 pm  

As a Salfordian, I thought the home crowd wavered between the suicidal to a baying mob. They have only come up from NL1 and lost half a dozen first choice players. If they don't have patience they are in for a long season, as far as I could see the team in Red were doing their best and nearly pulled off an incredible comeback. My heart was in my mouth at 18-30! I thought we had a perfect first 38 minutes and Mbu and Heckenberg slotted in very well. Dorn, Orr and Randall ran the whole show and the score would have been more if the tries were not scored in the corners.

I had to laugh when one Salford heckler was telling Orr not to bother kicking the last conversion as he would not get it and he was a waste of time. Needless to say he put it over, it was interesting that the Salford scoreboard said 38 minutes when the hooter went.

The Academy lads scored 52 ! Boy do we have some talent coming through!

: Sat Mar 07, 2009 10:03 pm  

But wasn't it a good night!!! the locals around us were amused and amusing (with a couple of loud exceptions) and I had the feeling they didn't really expect to win. The fight on the pitch about 60 mins was very half hearted.

: Sat Mar 07, 2009 10:28 pm  

poplar panther wrote:

As a Salfordian, I thought the home crowd wavered between the suicidal to a baying mob. They have only come up from NL1 and lost half a dozen first choice players. If they don't have patience they are in for a long season, as far as I could see the team in Red were doing their best and nearly pulled off an incredible comeback. My heart was in my mouth at 18-30! I thought we had a perfect first 38 minutes and Mbu and Heckenberg slotted in very well. Dorn, Orr and Randall ran the whole show and the score would have been more if the tries were not scored in the corners.

I had to laugh when one Salford heckler was telling Orr not to bother kicking the last conversion as he would not get it and he was a waste of time. Needless to say he put it over, it was interesting that the Salford scoreboard said 38 minutes when the hooter went.

The Academy lads scored 52 ! Boy do we have some talent coming through!

Do we? Are there some standout youngsters in the reserves now we don't know about since last season?