I think on paper you have the best squad in the league, more strength in depth than anyone else for sure, but your strongest 17 is nowhere near a country mile better than ours, as the 2 league games have shown this season. I get the funny feeling we will meet again this year ( hope so, been cracking games!), we are due a win against you at some point! Yesterdays game would have looked great on tele as a final, i bet you will agree with that?

it would have been a great game for sky but they decided that dewsbury and keighley would be a better game



lets hope we do meet in the final of the northern rail cup if we both get there should be another great game.

your squad is pretty good and we might not be that far ahead of you in the squad but i think that we do have th best team in the league by a fraction and only a fraction based on the game between you this season.

Just to bring this back to topic, I can confirm he did flick the bird at the South Stand crowd. It was a little bit tragic really. He just looked like some fat bloke in a bad suit, acting like a teenager with a couple of Strongbows in him.

I was among the Barrow supporters yesterday and thought it was a cracking game. You have beaten us 3 out of 3 so you must be the best (at the moment). For me this is the best Barrow side we have had since the early 80s and I've been supporting since the 50s.

Unfortunately this sport needs somebody to bank role any Club and Des Johnston may not be popular with everybody but he has brought us a good side which we have yearned for for years.

We gave Wigan an almighty scare in the CC and our gates are increasing steadily. I think if yesterdays game had been at Craven Park we would have topped 3000.

I just hope we can play you twice more in the NRC and GF. Both games will be televised and will show Sky that there is life outside SL.

his comments after the match in the players bar were good,he thanked both sets of fans for there support and said halifax are a good side and when he came off the stage i thanked him for his comments on halifax and yes i did have the balls to ask him about the matt calland affair which he replied its all good banter and good for the game of rugby league

I was speaking to Des outside the bar after the game and I actually found him a plaesent man who as a love for the game, I did not see him sticking a finger up at the fax fans. The Barrow fans where a fantastic bunch and a credit to their club and Rugby League allthough im not so sure your right about getting more than 3000 had the game been up at Barrow and what you have to remember is we have 3 Super League clubs near us so its harder for us to attract fans but we are getting there. Even bigger gate for next weeks game.

i heard him - he was more than complimentary to both sets of fans and both sets of players after the match

top bloke des

Maybe there is a rational explaination. I can only presume, not seeing the incident myself, that James Bunyan was at the game and Big Des mistook him for Pat Weisner and thought he would give him the finger.

Funny that, cos I walked out of the ground chatting to him and he was getting in his car...

He is a drink driver too?!?!?!

I never saw him having a drink.

If he was the (nearly?) bald guy in the suit, Then I saw him actualy blow a kiss to the guys who shouted a him - nothing else.

He seemed in Good Spirits, I gave him a bit of cheek and he laughed it off and had a positive chat with me, Like I said elsewhere, he was talking his team up in the press, and maybe got a little excited. Its the way at Some Clubs (especially where the Chairman is a moneyman) for the chairman to talk to the papers as much as or more than the coach. For example, Steve O'Connor at Widnes often is quoted in the press as saying things, but you rarely hear Michael Steele's name been quoted in the build up to games. As Calland usually does that.

I think hes a top fella, very passionate about his club and puts his money where his mouth is, the game needs people like this.

So, I take it you aren't going to give Leigh credit, when we win the GF, then?!

It's a very clever ploy by your club. Victory by stealth. They'll be talking about it for many years to come.

"Just where did Leigh come from to snatch it at the end? That Rowley - clever chap".

Most of us will be delirious if we can snatch Championship survival, at the end of this season!

I am veryfortunate in the fact that I get to meet the opposition Chairmen on matchdays. Met Des on a coupe of occasions and the man is a real character - I like him. I actually said to him that if he thinks Matt Calland's got a big mouth then what does he think of me! His response was that his comments were meant to add a bit of spice to the game and get a few more people through the turnstiles - fair play - he also agreed about my big mouth the cheeky git



He said some nice words about Halifax and he was definitely genuine in my opinion. His final comment to me was that he really hoped we get through to the Northern Rail Cup final as our fantastic fans deserved it. I know he's very passionate about his team and rightly so - the Barrow fans were a credit to their club yesterday.

Sounds like I need to change my thinking of the guy as he came across before as an arrogant muppet. However from what many have said on here seems a decent bloke. Sorry Des for thinking bad of you. Best of luck with barrow except against us!

He did true then when I shouted 'give me £10K and I would play for him' he stuck up the finger.
Bit childish really.

i think every one is getting too exited about nothing this kind of banter happens every week in football the guy came across very well after the game saying how good it was to see both sets of fans mingling out side having a beer

despite my wigan related username and display picture, i am also a barrow fan, attending all home games and was also lucky enough to travel to halifax. Personally i think can be easy for those who have less experience of des to judge him as being arrogant and O.T.T, but i can ensure his critics that he is a top bloke. He is not took a backward step in relation to supporting barrow, he is very passionate and displays enthuisiasm what i think the sport needs. Being stood outside a pub in halifax an hour or so before kick off, he drove past the mixture of fax and raiders fans, beeping his horns and sticking his thumb up to all fans, no matter who they were supporting. He is a great man, and should be applaued for his passion towards the sport.

He obviously has a of passion, but some of his comments were a bit OTT.

Anyway, his comments about Matt and Matt's comments are all water under the bridge. How your own players respond to his comments about them is up to them.

I think he's redeemed him self to most on here.

Anyway we have 'official' bragging rights, 3-0 says so