Blackpool 24-18 Whitehaven, AWAY TO LEEDS IN 5TH ROUND! : Sun Apr 18, 2010 4:30 pm  

Blackpool Panthers 24-18 whitehaven
scorers for panthers, Ainscough 3, Keaveney, Leather goals, leather 1/2 forber 0/1 hemmingway 1/2 (missed penalty) anderson 0/1 att: 650 est

started well in this game within ten minutes ainscough was in with slick passing, it was obvious with havens massive pack that shipping the ball was key to success, it looked all rosey when the restart went out on the full however the penalty failed to find touch, and so began the endless wave of pressure on our line, they must have had 20+ sets on our line so the pressure was inevitably going to tell, however it came through the flukiest of circumstances, kick through bounced horribly which flat footed leather only for the haven player to go round and score, within 5 minutes another kick this time ricocheting off the posts straight into the haven centres hands for another score, panthers could not get the ball despite some fierce hits decimating the forwards from both sides, eventually haven showed some class with great offloading killing the panthers defence before a neat cut out pass to send the wing man in the corner, half time 6-18, defending brilliantly on our line, haven look tired also.

enter the second half and it looks an even contest, a few mistakes from panthers and haven take the assendancy only for prop forward Neil holland to intercept leroy joes pass to run 60m, before being caught just shy of the line, a set of 6 followed which panthers couldnt crack the line but the break showed they could burst through the haven defence which looked alarmingly tired, within ten minutes panthers were in, crossfield kick finding leather, and the scores following a horrible miss were 10-18, it didnt take long for ainscough to worm his way over and the scores were within two. Panthers needed composure at this point instead they played panic rugby and tried to score at every opportunity, passes going to ground, offloads from impossible situations, and passes into touch (ainscough) however eventually with 5 minutes to go panthers finally reagained the lead as ainscough crossed for his hat trick against a haven side that was shattered, iot was evident from after panthers second try that they had nothing left and if we held our nerve we would come out on top. To top it all off keaveney darted over from dummy half just before the hooter after a forward pass 30m out from haven.

Panthers lineup
Leather- looked out of sorts at times, shifted out to wing after looking shaky at the back took his try well
Munroe- did well against his former club, came up with some real try savers in 1st half
Ainscough- had the odd brain fart but cant fault him for his hat trick always dangerous
Llewellen- anonymous in attack but worked his socks off in defence
Ballard- very dangerous with ball especially from kick returns, defensively solid
Forber- linked well and put some good passes in but too many went to ground
Hemmingway- very good kicking game and defensively punched above his weight against the big pack which targeted him
Holland- massive game, some hige defensive hits and was a monster in attack my MOM
Clough- always a threat in and around dummy half, helped set up 2 tries through breakaways
Hobson- guilty of being a dirty sod in first half lots of penalties piling pressure but cleaned up 2nd half with a great stint in attack and defense didnt shy away
Mcully- solid, but anonymous
Halliwell- threatening at times, should have scored in first half but bombed it over line
Haggerty- some cracking shots but didnt do much with the ball

Keaveney- similar to clough around dummy half and did very well defensiveley
Ratcliffe- great stints taking it to the big pack
Anderson- added the extra bit of experience calming the nerves when panick mode set in
Alcock- solid display as per usual

draw has been made
Halifax v Batley
Barrow v Hunslet
Bradford v Leigh
Harlequins v St Helens
Cruasders v Catalans
Huddersfield v Warrington
Leeds v Blackpool
Widnes or Lezignan v Wigan

Re: Blackpool 24-18 Whitehaven, AWAY TO LEEDS IN 5TH ROUND! : Sun Apr 18, 2010 4:46 pm  

i'd say clough was man of the match. any play the ball where we actually got a quick one and he was killing them. he was as much the impotus behind getting us back in it as holland was. cully and halliwell were guilty of a lot of uneccessary penalties in the first half, and halliwell was never onside. wasn't impressed with him today. happy with everyone else other than hobbo's thuggery at times. alcock had a very strong spell in the second half.

Re: Blackpool 24-18 Whitehaven, AWAY TO LEEDS IN 5TH ROUND! : Sun Apr 18, 2010 4:54 pm  

Sam tomkins of wigan seemed impressed with us certainly in second half

Re: Blackpool 24-18 Whitehaven, AWAY TO LEEDS IN 5TH ROUND! : Sun Apr 18, 2010 5:50 pm  

One word. AWESOME!

Re: Blackpool 24-18 Whitehaven, AWAY TO LEEDS IN 5TH ROUND! : Sun Apr 18, 2010 8:59 pm  

Wow, Get on! What a great result, well done Blackpool. Best of luck against Leeds in the next round.

Re: Blackpool 24-18 Whitehaven, AWAY TO LEEDS IN 5TH ROUND! : Mon Apr 19, 2010 10:12 am  

[quote="Captain Jack Sparrow"]One word. AWESOME! Totally agree Captain, hope to return to see you again .

Re: Blackpool 24-18 Whitehaven, AWAY TO LEEDS IN 5TH ROUND! : Fri Apr 23, 2010 3:11 pm  

Just read Fylde Coast Warriors assessment of the Whitehaven game and his opinions on each players individual performances.
Whilst i agree a lot of his assessments on certain players i dont agree with some of them.
Fylde Coast you state McCully was solid but anonymous
Its not all about try scorers.
What wins games is good defence, and McCully topped the tackle count in that game.
Some fans dont recongnise the efforts of some players and good defence wins games simple as!!!
I also think Forber played well and Haggerty.
My man of the match was Clough, he seems to get better each game
Hobson played well too but i hope he can keep the penalty count down in future

Re: Blackpool 24-18 Whitehaven, AWAY TO LEEDS IN 5TH ROUND! : Fri Apr 23, 2010 3:32 pm  

It's all about opinions innit

I agree though, players like McCully and Haggerty get through a shedload of work that often goes unnoticed.

It's much down to the work that playes like this do that the backs have so much extra time and space to work in this season.

Clough and Keavney are both playing very well at actring half and the speed the ball leaves the ruck also contributes greatly, along with the fact that both can make many yards from acting half when they "scoot". It all contributes to getting the opposition on the back foot which again, helps create space for the backs to work in.

Re: Blackpool 24-18 Whitehaven, AWAY TO LEEDS IN 5TH ROUND! : Fri Apr 23, 2010 3:47 pm  

the difference is haggerty contributes in both attack and defence and isn't giving stupid penalties away like his more experienced counterpart. i find it very frustrating, and that is what makes it poor. CUT OUT THE PENALTIES! the count was awful against blackpool again on sunday. similarly other players who've come into the second/back row have made the tackles, defended well - and not given the penalties away. Hobbo has been guilty of giving penalties away but carries the ball even stronger in the next set which makes up for it somewhat. and sets the platform for attcking play.

the fast play of the ball is a good point, and something that held us back against 'haven as the ref wasn't interested in getting their players off at the ruck. ainscough's first try was the first fast play of the ball clough was allowed and we absolutely murdered them from it. the fast play of the ball combined with powerful hit-ups from hobson and ratcliffe and skill the and pace out wide is too much for most teams. they don't know how to defend because you can't push up and in as the skill cand speed can beat that but you can't go man for man down the middle because the forwards are running strong.

anyway, let me know the penalty and tackling stats from tonight as i'll be at wigan, hopefully watching jonny walker come off the bench.

out of interest fleetwood mac - where do you get these stats from because i never find anything with such detail on panthers games. been thinking it might be good to get more detail so we can start putting some figures together to put on the wesite or something.

Re: Blackpool 24-18 Whitehaven, AWAY TO LEEDS IN 5TH ROUND! : Sat Apr 24, 2010 10:33 am  

So you are a Wigan fan and part time Panthers fan are you Markill.

Haggertys expericenced counter parts stats come from someone i know in the club and are correct. If he gets picked every week the coach must be happy and i think he has more knowledge about what goes on in a game than me or you.
Also McCully for what i could see only gave away one penalty in the Haven game!!!! so i think you might keep getting mixed up with the players.

This team is doing well because we have a good blend of proven try scorers, good tacklers, pace and Enforcers like Hobo and Anderson with a good blend of youth and experience.
Plus they are playing for each other which is a big factor
And you might hate this being a Wiganer, lots of st helens born with Academy experience in the team ie
McCully.
Forber.
Haggerty.
Clough.
Lllewelyn.

Having said that your Wigan lads have helped a lot and Holland, Tuson and Walker have been outstanding.
Yes you are entitled to your opinion but like i said earlier some players efforts dont get recognised in a game when defence is the key.