Mason & Bayliss both took their opportunities I thought. Good games for both of them. 
We were a little late in the first half for our first substitutions (maybe missing Nobby as coach?) and Sheffield and Matongo specifically made the difference at the end of the first half. 


2nd half, much more clinical. Dominated field position, blew them away in a 10 minute spell. Good game

Sometimes it's just about getting the win! 


People missing through injury always causes disruption and affects fluidity. 


In previous seasons we'd have found a way to lose that game. 

Another enjoyable game.  Apart from the knock on from the kick off we started ok I thought.  At 8-0 we were in control and then for some reason switched off in defence.  The left side looked all at sea with Meadows and Gill doing a bit of ball watching.  Once the 2nd half got going after the delay to treat Matongo (how unlucky with injury is he!) we came right back into it.  Thought that a couple of refs decisions that went against us fired us up (in the right way for once).  Fulton in particular seemed to be everywhere.

Losing Lawrence in the warm up seemed to inspire a few, Ronan Michael did a massive shift and I thought Mason and Bayliss were influential.  I thought Bayley Liu was a bit unfortunate to be dropped to the bench given recent form but he looked strong when he came on.


Not sure of why Peposhi was sin-binned for a head clash.  If an opponent ducks into the tackle a split second before contact that's on him surely?  Either way it didn't matter thankfully.  Lilley had another good game and his pass to send Okunbor down the wing for him to back up and score was great.  The next try to Hooley was even better.  His pass to Blake and then the backing up was top class.  


Would love to keep Hooley.   While he's not as quick as Holmes he offers more as a ball player and is a bit more reliable under the kick.  It'll be a headache for the coaches to sort out when Holmes is fit.  

Well, Lui was unlucky only in that he was doing a decent job at centre, but as soon as a specialist centre became available he was back in contention with Fulton & Gee at 2nd row. And he did a good job in the pack. Definitely done enough to stay in the 17, but will require a big effort to grab a starting 2nd row spot at the moment. Gee I suppose is a possibility but Fulton is churning out 8/10 performances every week. 

I think when Fulton was ruled to have knocked on and he took exception to it his reaction was superb.  He channelled all that frustration into winning the game and that try saving tackle epitomised that approach.    Just shows that if you concentrate on rugby rather than getting into a battle with the official it has better results.