So what do we reckon then?



Firstly we weren't at full strength, unlike what some on the York forum would lead you to believe. Jones, Barnett and March were all out just to name a few.



Obviously it easy to read a lot in to what was really a meaningless pre-season game. A bloomin' expensive one at £14 to get in mind. We showed all the signs of a team still trying to gel, some of our timing was out, some of our defence a bit loose and when the ball goes to ground we seem to end up conceding a lot, it's a real weakness of ours we just seem to completely lose shape.



The single most impressive thing was the young lads coming in, none of them looked out of their depth, worked their socks off and all looked to have a bit about them. Obst really looks a class act, James H had another good game at full back, Semi took both his tries well as you would expect. As for Korki, well he's just a beast.



I thought we were in control for large periods of the game and if it wasn't for York ruthlessly capitalising on our errors and Danny Lawton having a better day with the boot the margin of victory would have been a lot wider. Fair play to York though, they had a fair few players out and still looked a decent side.



Oh and i'm not going to say he was biased one way or another, just that Ronnie Laughton is still not fit to referee an under 9s game never mind at semi-pro level he is completely and utterly useless.

Thanks Stealth.



Couldn't make it today and RLFans has been down for a long time.



Who was playing for us?

Off the top of my head..



James H

Duffy

Tadulala

Lawton

Obst

Coleman

Cherryholme

Feather

Shickell

Pursglove

Sheriffe

JD

Korkidas

Clough

Smith

Stead

Storton



I'm sure i've missed a couple out, i'm sure someone will fill the blanks in for me.

Thanks Stealth.



Had Clough calmed-down a bit after his usual display at 'fax?

It shows the quality of squad when you consider those missing well done.

I read on twitter that cloughy scored a try

Seemed ok, got a talking to off the ref after scoring his try but I didn't see what for to be honest.

Chris Clough did score. With good coaching and retaining his discipline I hope Chris will blossom this year. Again well done the youngsters who played well.

Good summary by Stealth. I found myself coming away from the game talking about the ref which illustrates another poor day the office by Mr L. I'm sure York fans will mention a few of the decisions which may well be valid, but all you ask from a ref is consistency and today showed he is consistent, consistently bad. He appears to me to give a decision one minute for one team and then give a complete different call, based on a similar situation another. I think in the first 5 minutes the penalty count stood at 3 or 4 which shows that when he refs it's the Ronnie show.



Anyway, onto the performances. For me an improvement, albeit small from the Halifax game. For around 20-25 minutes we seemed to click and put some points on the board. For the remainder we looked very much like work in progress. In all honesty, based on that I would say it wasn't a great day at the office, but we got the win. I'm sure JD will take a lot from the game, but we have to improve our defence. York at times sliced through with ease.



James H is making the full back jersey his own. I thought Semi looked a real handful and Cherryholme run some solid yards. Korky took some stick from the York fans but he is, like Stealth says, an animal and will be a real problem from defence's. I'm not going to single out players for criticism, but a few of our squad from last season have a some things to work on if they are to get a regular shirt in my opinion. Sam will be a real threat and some of the young guns showed the talent at the club. I hope Jones will feature against Batley and look forward to the qualities and direction he will bring.



Does anyone know if Normington is being rested or do the terms of his deal mean he can't play in friendlies.



The play the ball for both teams today was slow which was in no small part to our friend Ronnie. When we looked for the quick play the balls we caused York problems, but it was a bit labored at times. York, to be fair capitalised on our errors (as did Halifax) which shows that this coming season mistakes will cost us and we need to work on that. Sheriffe again looked very strong in the tackle and seems to hurt them when he hits them.



As the games progress I think we'll all see a more polished Cougars. Let York fans say what they like. To be honest I don't care. That was by no means a first choice Cougars and could name at least 3 absentees who will probably be regulars next season. Fair play to York though, they took their chances and showed that this league won't be easy.



The green army deserve a mention today. They created some fair noise and I thought York were suppose to be at home!? Lol!

Good summaries by Stealth Comic and dominance. I thought we looked far superior in attack but weak in defence giving them too many yards at times. Apparently York gave 5 local amateurs a run out so said a York supporter I was chatting to. I think they looked pretty solid still. It'll be an exciting season.

Most impressed, as Stealth says, by Danny Snowden and especially Ben Stead who didn't look out of place in a star-studded team with many former Superleague players. The future looks great.

Considering we were without Jones, Barnett, March, Sagar, Wray and Normington, and we had so many young lads making their first appearence, i thought we did very well. It will be interesting to see where these players fit into the squad. I would have said jones for fullback with coleman and obst in the halfs but james h has been outstanding.



Credit to york as well though, they were without at least 3 new signings who were announced at half time and it was their first friendly.