fevnut's musings
Batley:
Putting the result into context
So, it
ended up as an overwhelming victory but let’s remember that for the first
quarter of an hour the teams were going toe-to-toe until Brad Day managed to
break through running a beautiful diagonal line and taking an excellent pass
from Dane Chisholm.
The fact
that Fev scored a further four tries in the next fifteen minutes told us that
there had been a dramatic change in the way both teams were playing. Batley
played well at the beginning but one had to wonder whether the tragic event of
the previous weekend meant that, once they went behind, it was too difficult
for the Batley players to put their hearts and souls into the contest.
Chizzy was
clearly the man of the match with his hatrick, kicking ten out of eleven goals
for 32 points and numerous assists with the other tries. Brad Day was
outstanding yet again and we thought that Callum McLelland had a very fine game
too.
We feel
that there is another player who deserves high praise and that is Connor Jones.
He is a real prize and we hope very much indeed that we can secure his services
for next season. He is fast, reads the game excellently and his passing from
dummy-half is the best we have seen for many years. Watch him carefully, the
passes come out quickly, they are made with speed on the ball and invariably
placed exactly where the receiver best needs it.
For
the record
Before last
Sunday Fev had played Batley 160 times. Previously the highest score ever
registered by a Fev team was on the 5th May 1996 when we won a home league
match 56-10 with Deryck Fox as man of the match. But that wasn’t the highest
margin victory. That came in the strangest of all competitions called ‘Top Try’
in November 1971. We won that won 54-0. We said that it was a strange
competition - the fact that we only scored 12 tries (four from John
Newlove) meant that we did not progress in the competition!
Sunday
extended our run in league matches against Batley to winning 22 out of the last
23 although there was a loss to them in 2016 in the Challenge Cup
Jack
Ormondroyd
Congratulations
to Jack who played his 100th game for Fev on Sunday. The wholesale changes in
our squad over the last few seasons means that only James Lockwood and John
Davies have played more.
We understand
(but not yet confirmed) that Jack is off to Salford next year. It will be sad
to see him go but we wish him well in what will be his second attempt to
establish himself in Super League.
The
Play-Offs
Well,
despite all the pundits’ predictions we have made it into the Top 5. Well done
team, well done Ryan Carr.
The only
way we could end up having to play York rather than Leigh is if all these three
things happen. I leave you to choose how likely that all 3 occur!
1.
Fev beat
Toulouse
2.
York lose to
Halifax
3.
Leigh beat
or draw away to Toronto
More
fascinating is whether we could possibly squeeze into 4th place and get a home
tie against Leigh. Should the above three factors all occur and Leigh finish
above York we can’t possibly get above York and play them at home.
Whatever
happens we have to beat Toulouse on Saturday and that is a very tall order.
They are playing very well and have won their last 6. They also have the
advantage of a very settled side with fewer changes in their squad this year than
any other Championship team.
Maybe they will throw a
match to avoid having to travel twice Toronto but that would be their first
play-off match against York (probably) but they will still be putting maximum
effort into Saturday’s match to ensure a 2nd place finish and a home tie in the
first weekend.
The above chart is based on current table positions. The actual dates of matches is still to be determined.
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