Match 25: London Broncos (Home) Championship
fevnut's musings
Huge!
We get some
games that are big ones and then occasionally there is one that is huge! Sunday’s
game against London definitely comes into that category. We’ve been trying to
get ourselves in a really positive mood about it. Recalling matches where we
had to win games at the end of the league season.
There was
that one against Leigh in 1998 when we had to not only win, but win by a big
margin. And we did it finishing with a 58-4 victory which included a hat trick
from one of our favourite imports - Danny Baker and a brace from our newly
announced commercial manager - Karl Pratt. Even though we only just got into
the play-offs on the last day of the league season we, of course, then got
within a whisker of winning the Grand Final and a place in Super League.
And then there
was the unforgettable match on a Wednesday evening in 2013 when we had to not
only beat Sheffield Eagles but also deny them a bonus point to put ourselves in
with a chance of claiming the league leaders spot on the Sunday following. We
won it well enough but it was a real nail biter because Sheffield scored in the
75th minute to bring the score to 34-24 and put them into a bonus point
position. The hooter was about to go and all looked lost when Liam Finn put up
a high kick towards our right wing at the railway end. What more glorious sight
than watching Will Sharp soar into the air to catch the ball above the
defenders and touch down to end the match at 40-24 (Liam converted) and deny
Sheffield that bonus point. We went onto win the final game 46-8 away at
Hunslet. In the end the Hunslet match didn’t matter because we left the ground
to the news that Sheffield had lost unexpectedly at Doncaster.
The big question
Not only
can we do it, but who on earth is going to be playing at halfback? What a
season! Ridyard injured, Tom Holmes injured and now Matty Wildie suspended.
What a situation to have going into this most crucial of games? There’s no one
left in the squad who looks as if they can realistically fill in and there
doesn’t appear to be a dual reg option with Jordan Lilley having gone on loan
to Bradford. It really does re-enforce the desperate need for the RFL to insist
on clubs returning to running reserve teams. Let’s hope that Mark Campbell, Dav
Longo and John Duffy can pull a rabbit (or rather a stand-off) out of the hat!
Discipline
Earlier
this week we posted a page (see link below) that shows what an awful
disciplinary record we have had this year. Too many penalties given away with
the consequence of putting ourselves in peril by the field position we
regularly hand to the opposition. Too many yellow cards leaving us playing with
less than 13 players on the park for 10 minutes. Too many red cards. And as
result, of course, important players banned for vital matches.
Matty
Wildie has done a fantastic job for us this year and I hope that he continues
to play for Fev for many years. But to get banned for such an important match
for foul and abusive language to an official is quite frankly appalling. It
really is about time that our players took a more responsible attitude and
considered the consequences on the club, their team mates and the loyal Fev
fans.
But …….
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