I Probably Should Explain My Bet Now..!
My bet is that Swinton are going to make the top seven and hence the play offs. They are currently eighth and are currently hovering outside the play off places. I reckon they need at least 2 wins and a bonus point from their last 3 games. When I placed the bet, they had 4 games left and their 3 closest rivals all hadn't won their last game, arse!
Oh and a belated Happy Birthday to canaryraptor, get back online soon!
Here's what the Salford Advertiser got report-wise:
Swinton Lions were just edged out 42-48 in a sensational match at Park Lane and remain lurking outside the play off places in Championship 1.
Swinton and York put up more than a point a minute while referee Dave Merrick had to administer four cards in a breathless, hectic game that had everything except tight defences! It was an eighty minute long portion of rugged yet skilful entertainment.
For both sides, it was imperative to win this one with Swinton chasing the last Championship 1 play off place and York wanting to ram home the advantage given to them by Blackpool’s ten point deduction in the week.
Unfortunately the defeat, along with wins elsewhere for South Wales, Doncaster and Workington has made their route to the play offs extra tricky with just three games left to play...
Even when Chris Thorman ghosted in after just a couple of minutes with Swinton having only touched the ball kicking off, it wasn’t expected that another fifteen tries would follow!
Swinton were only behind due to Danny Ratcliffe’s conversion of York’s first score after Dale Cunniffe charging from first receiver did tremendously well keeping control while stretching over.
Merrick certainly didn’t endear himself to the Swinton fans by disallowing two tries for Rob Foxen in the left hand corner, citing forward passes by Richie Hawkyard and Craig Harvey respectively.
Sadly for the Lions, York took the ball and went straight down the other end, Matt Duckworth was stopped but not held by the Lions cover and he got up and dived over.
Darren Hawkyard and Harvey managed to knock the ball from Nathan Freer’s grasp. However the Lions quickly lost it, only to push York into touch earning a scrum from which Harvey’s nice pass was met by Gavin Dodd. The winger’s conversion attempt agonisingly hit the post.
Richie Hawkyard was next to score, courtesy of Watson’s smart ball, Dodd slotted over the goal for the only lead Swinton were to have all day.
The Lions will be disappointed with how they lost it; Ryan Esders galloped through Lions tackles to score on two occasions before the break with another Ratcliffe conversion to boot.
Swinton added a penalty right on half time to render the gap six points.
They will also be disappointed by how they conceded a try on the first Knights possession of both halves, Jack Lee racing through poor tackling to score by the posts.
Swinton’s defence was proving most aggressive and when they hauled a York player into touch, the reaction created a brawl involving pretty much everyone on the pitch and a few of the Knights’ spectators...
When things eventually calmed down, Merrick sanctioned the sin binning of Swinton’s Watson and York’s Esders and sent off Knights’ second rower Jordan Ross.
With eleven versus twelve, the Lions exploited the wide open spaces well, Alex Hurst scoring within a minute of numbers being cut.
Then Harvey’s kick took a ludicrous bounce, leaving James Haynes all at sea, Dodd collecting an easy try while jubilantly raising the ball above his head before tapping it down.
Despite having the extra man, they still allowed York a score with Danny Allan crashing over. Ratcliffe missed the goal but soon had another chance was provided as Thorman’s kick also took an unexpected ricochet, allowing Luke Hardbottle to ‘football pass’ it to Tom Lineham who dived over.
Watson and Esders returned from the sin bin and the latter was immediately involved, finishing off the next try and completing a hat trick in less than half an hour, a third of which he was off the pitch!
Watson and Cunniffe combined to send in Foxen out wide and he did a marvellous job in narrowing the angle for Dodd’s ensuing conversion.
However, Andy Ainscough knocked on the kick off and from there Lineham added his second, just evading Neil Rigby’s despairing dive to go for the corner.
Credit to Swinton for not giving in, with forty eight points scored against them, with their team containing nine players who weren’t signed up at the start of the season and even without talismanic skipper Lee Wingfield, the team spirit is now there in abundance.
Lineham was denied his hat trick by a brilliant diving tackle from Darren Hawkyard before it became a dozen Knights against a dozen Lions with Harvey’s late sin binning.
Swinton set about making the impossible possible, Phil Joseph romping in by the posts and when Darren Hawkyard kept the ball alive to allow Hurst space to score in the corner with three minutes to spare, some were contemplating whether forty eight points enough to win it for York?!
The answer proved to be yes, Cunniffe was penalised for taking out a York player leaping for the ball, Ratcliffe missed the penalty but it ate down the time on the clock to nothing and the Knights held on.
Swinton: 1.Richie Hawkyard, 24. Gavin Dodd, 28. Alex Hurst, 27. Anthony Stewart, 23. Rob Foxen, 34. Craig Harvey, 7. Ian Watson, 31. Anthony Mullally, 9. Phil Joseph, 33. Danny Meekin, 36. Darren Hawkyard, 39. Dale Cunniffe, 19. Neil Rigby.
Subs: 14. Gary Hulse, 16. Dana Wilson 6, 40. Joe Fitzpatrick, 32. Andy Ainscough.
York: 31. James Haynes, 28. Danny Wilson, 3. Mike Mitchell, 34. Danny Allen, 5. Tom Lineham, 6. Chris Thorman, 1. Danny Ratcliffe, 17. Nathan Freer, 33, Jack Lee, 36. Callum Dinsdale, 11. Jordan Ross, 18.Matt Duckworth, 15. Luke Hardbottle.
Subs: 10 Alex Benson, 29. Ryan Esders, 26. Steve Lewis, 30. Jack Stearman.
Referee: Dave Merrick
MOTM: Swinton: Darren Hawkyard, York: Ryan Esders
Attendance: 431
Oh and a belated Happy Birthday to canaryraptor, get back online soon!
Here's what the Salford Advertiser got report-wise:
Swinton Lions were just edged out 42-48 in a sensational match at Park Lane and remain lurking outside the play off places in Championship 1.
Swinton and York put up more than a point a minute while referee Dave Merrick had to administer four cards in a breathless, hectic game that had everything except tight defences! It was an eighty minute long portion of rugged yet skilful entertainment.
For both sides, it was imperative to win this one with Swinton chasing the last Championship 1 play off place and York wanting to ram home the advantage given to them by Blackpool’s ten point deduction in the week.
Unfortunately the defeat, along with wins elsewhere for South Wales, Doncaster and Workington has made their route to the play offs extra tricky with just three games left to play...
Even when Chris Thorman ghosted in after just a couple of minutes with Swinton having only touched the ball kicking off, it wasn’t expected that another fifteen tries would follow!
Swinton were only behind due to Danny Ratcliffe’s conversion of York’s first score after Dale Cunniffe charging from first receiver did tremendously well keeping control while stretching over.
Merrick certainly didn’t endear himself to the Swinton fans by disallowing two tries for Rob Foxen in the left hand corner, citing forward passes by Richie Hawkyard and Craig Harvey respectively.
Sadly for the Lions, York took the ball and went straight down the other end, Matt Duckworth was stopped but not held by the Lions cover and he got up and dived over.
Darren Hawkyard and Harvey managed to knock the ball from Nathan Freer’s grasp. However the Lions quickly lost it, only to push York into touch earning a scrum from which Harvey’s nice pass was met by Gavin Dodd. The winger’s conversion attempt agonisingly hit the post.
Richie Hawkyard was next to score, courtesy of Watson’s smart ball, Dodd slotted over the goal for the only lead Swinton were to have all day.
The Lions will be disappointed with how they lost it; Ryan Esders galloped through Lions tackles to score on two occasions before the break with another Ratcliffe conversion to boot.
Swinton added a penalty right on half time to render the gap six points.
They will also be disappointed by how they conceded a try on the first Knights possession of both halves, Jack Lee racing through poor tackling to score by the posts.
Swinton’s defence was proving most aggressive and when they hauled a York player into touch, the reaction created a brawl involving pretty much everyone on the pitch and a few of the Knights’ spectators...
When things eventually calmed down, Merrick sanctioned the sin binning of Swinton’s Watson and York’s Esders and sent off Knights’ second rower Jordan Ross.
With eleven versus twelve, the Lions exploited the wide open spaces well, Alex Hurst scoring within a minute of numbers being cut.
Then Harvey’s kick took a ludicrous bounce, leaving James Haynes all at sea, Dodd collecting an easy try while jubilantly raising the ball above his head before tapping it down.
Despite having the extra man, they still allowed York a score with Danny Allan crashing over. Ratcliffe missed the goal but soon had another chance was provided as Thorman’s kick also took an unexpected ricochet, allowing Luke Hardbottle to ‘football pass’ it to Tom Lineham who dived over.
Watson and Esders returned from the sin bin and the latter was immediately involved, finishing off the next try and completing a hat trick in less than half an hour, a third of which he was off the pitch!
Watson and Cunniffe combined to send in Foxen out wide and he did a marvellous job in narrowing the angle for Dodd’s ensuing conversion.
However, Andy Ainscough knocked on the kick off and from there Lineham added his second, just evading Neil Rigby’s despairing dive to go for the corner.
Credit to Swinton for not giving in, with forty eight points scored against them, with their team containing nine players who weren’t signed up at the start of the season and even without talismanic skipper Lee Wingfield, the team spirit is now there in abundance.
Lineham was denied his hat trick by a brilliant diving tackle from Darren Hawkyard before it became a dozen Knights against a dozen Lions with Harvey’s late sin binning.
Swinton set about making the impossible possible, Phil Joseph romping in by the posts and when Darren Hawkyard kept the ball alive to allow Hurst space to score in the corner with three minutes to spare, some were contemplating whether forty eight points enough to win it for York?!
The answer proved to be yes, Cunniffe was penalised for taking out a York player leaping for the ball, Ratcliffe missed the penalty but it ate down the time on the clock to nothing and the Knights held on.
Swinton: 1.Richie Hawkyard, 24. Gavin Dodd, 28. Alex Hurst, 27. Anthony Stewart, 23. Rob Foxen, 34. Craig Harvey, 7. Ian Watson, 31. Anthony Mullally, 9. Phil Joseph, 33. Danny Meekin, 36. Darren Hawkyard, 39. Dale Cunniffe, 19. Neil Rigby.
Subs: 14. Gary Hulse, 16. Dana Wilson 6, 40. Joe Fitzpatrick, 32. Andy Ainscough.
York: 31. James Haynes, 28. Danny Wilson, 3. Mike Mitchell, 34. Danny Allen, 5. Tom Lineham, 6. Chris Thorman, 1. Danny Ratcliffe, 17. Nathan Freer, 33, Jack Lee, 36. Callum Dinsdale, 11. Jordan Ross, 18.Matt Duckworth, 15. Luke Hardbottle.
Subs: 10 Alex Benson, 29. Ryan Esders, 26. Steve Lewis, 30. Jack Stearman.
Referee: Dave Merrick
MOTM: Swinton: Darren Hawkyard, York: Ryan Esders
Attendance: 431