Blackpool Panthers 54-6 Swinton Lions : Sun Mar 28, 2010 4:26 pm  

great win for the lads today, putting what was in my mind a potential title contender to the sword with relative ease. Always seemed dangerous with the ball, making breaks for fun while strong in defence, only one negative was their try, dissappointing circumstances but can't take away from a great performance from the lads. MOM Leather, very dangerous with the ball, created a handful of tries the lions couldnt live with him.

Our lineup was:
Leather-my mom, a threat everytime with the ball, however did have a shaky moment under high ball due to wind in first half.
munroe- dealt with watsons kicks very well on the cleanup, took his tries very well, his first one especially.
ainscough- quite quiet apart from his try, defended well but almost a passenger at times in attack.
Mayberry-always a handful whenever he plays, devastating breaks all game, however came off injured after his second not too serious I hope
woodcock- solid game made a few breaks just didnt quite manage to finish them, picked up a knock late on but didnt look too bad
Forber- good ball distribution the link between him and hemmingway is developing well, however poor kicking at times.
Hemmingway- same as with forber, however added an extra bit of class for a fair number of tries but also not a great kicking game
Hobson- rock solid, took it to the swinton pack head on and came up trumps, work horse throughout and no silly penalties from him
clough- very strong game, controlled the game from dummy half while had a decent kicking game to pin the lions back well
Holland- good solid game, strong in attack while put some good shots on in defence.
walker- good line runner of the ball, took some big hits but kept coming back, tough nut in dfence too.
Haggerty- quiet game, didnt see too much of him, good yards going forward again though.
Halliwell- good debut, adds a wealth of experience to the side, his second try was a peach, stealing one on one to stroll home from 20m

anderson- only got 20 mins but got stuck in when on and led the pack well while on.
ballard- good display, made a few half breaks hero or there and a solid display covering at fullback when on.
Keaveney- continued where clough left off, controlled the game and distributed well, while punching above his weight in defence.
Mcully- solid performance again, strong defensive display.

Tries: Halliwell2, Mayberry2, Ainscough, Leather, Keaveny, Hobson, Munroe2 goals: Hemmingway 7/10 att:300-350 roughly.

Re: Blackpool Panthers 54-6 Swinton Lions : Mon Mar 29, 2010 9:47 am  

Great stuff. Good write up too.

Re: Blackpool Panthers 54-6 Swinton Lions : Mon Mar 29, 2010 10:41 am  

Pedants corner - Hemingway kicked 7/11, 10 conversions attempted plus the pen right on h/t

Game was pretty much dead after the first half hour, Swinton's ball retention was abysmal and we took full advantage to rack up some great tries.

It says a lot about the standards we are setting ourselves that Danny Halliwell looked the slowest player on our side yesterday and this having just left a Championship club! Took his chances well though, especially the ball steal after chasing his own kick through.

Thought the smaller lad from Wigan (John Walker) was superb. You can the difference in how these lads have been coached, always ran lines that gave him a chance of breaking the line and for a prop/2nd Row, a very "lean" player, there's nowt to him but does he both take and dish out some punishment.

However, I'm still not a fan of this dual reg thingy. Players like Fairhurst and Alcock didn't make the squad at all yesterday and if the same players are always left out in favour of the dual reg players, you could soon see some of them looking elsewhere. The problem then comes when Wiggin (or whoever else) want their lads back (a la Tuson) and we've suddenly got a weakness that can't be filled adequately.

Personally, I'd rather they came on season long loan so everyone knows where they stand; if this isn't possible then they should stay with their parent club.

Shouldn't detract though from anther great win, although again, we only played well in patches, especially either side of ht. If we do put it together for the full 80 someone is going to be on the end of a fearful hammering.

Re: Blackpool Panthers 54-6 Swinton Lions : Mon Mar 29, 2010 12:08 pm  

I wouldn't go so far as a title contender...Swinton will finish in the play-offs, but they looked average and lacked pace (which was there undoing). When Sam Reay is on the wing, you know the opposition is going to be slow.

The ball running on the hit-ups was superb at times, with the ball being passed two or three times along the line from the potb before contact was made. I can't remember us knocking on in the first half.

Thought Mayberry was superb, but he really should have 'fragile' tattooed across his forehead. Noticed a few of the players had what I presume to be heat strips on the back of their legs (those pink things).

Munro was solid as ever and came into his own in the second half. I thought Ballard was poor- made more errors than the rest of the team combined when he came on.

Forber and Hemmingway looked ok though thought they lacked a bit of cohesion at time. The kicking from dummy half was a bit poor at times but we got away with it.

The forwards were solid and have quick feet with good hands- there speed will rip through most teams in this league. Walker was a tackle machine (which his face showed at the end) and Hobson dominated Swinton's props. I thought Anderson looked good when he was on- he isn't the biggest prop, but drew players in and then moved the ball along the line.

It depends how the fringe players react- they could throw their toys out of the pram and go elsewhere, or they could try to improve and get back in the squad. I can't see them getting paid more elsewhere. I thought Holland was quiet yesterday, but Walker stood out. Both players are unlikely to feature for Wigan this season, and so should be available to play most games. Tuson was always going to be a big fish in a little pond, and sadly for Panthers, Cas came looking for players.