It's certainly one big benefit of having Smith back at the club.

Webb is fit, we can give him game time and rest Senior.

The usual suspects didn't go again I see.

poor 1st half

and 2nd half we turned it on at times

its like we have the ability but we cant reach the switch

The key in the 2nd half was picking up the pace of the game and knocking Salford out of their stride. We were winning the collisions and getting quick PTB's, and it showed.

also JJB today was brilliant

Certainly was. Excellent display. Others who played well were Delaney and Ablett. Not a bad effort from Kylie. Burgess was gash 1st half but much improved 2nd half.

Kirke's hit up stats will make interesting reading this week

Burgess in first half, it got to the point where you had to watch behind your hands to see if he hadn't dropped it, very poor

I thought Kylie did well especially as no Peacock, he took it well

well done on ya win folks,you must always worry a bit when coming up against us as we do always seem to give you a good hard game of late.JJB was one of your stand out men and foook me that lump kirke can hit hard in the tackle!!

I was getting drunk (and still am) at a family sunday lunch. Was it any good? LP texted me and tells me we weren't brilliant, but we are in the top four, so it'll do for me!

1st half was embarrassingly poor. Poor ball control, no go forward, and no kicking game (in fact we didn't get through enough sets to get a kicking game going). Barely got out of our own half. 2nd half was the exact opposite. Controlled the ball, got quicker play the balls and found a bit more room on the edges as a result. Took good options on the last tackle as well. The only downside in the second half was another couple of soft tries given away, although the last one can maybe be excused with it being in the last minute.

While I agree with most of your analysis, there was a period fairly early in the 1st half where we had 3 sets of 6 on their line due to decent kicks but failed to score, after that we were pretty dire.
I agree with the comments about JJB, Kylie & Delaney tho I'm not sure how fit he is. In the warm up the physio concentrated on his groin & he appeared to have difficulties with it in the game too.
I was impressed with Broughton, for the Delaney break & Donald try he tackled Delaney then got back to almost deny Donald the try.
We were lucky that Holdsworth wasn't playing for them.
Curate's Egg of a game but 2 points in the bag & up to 4th so in that regard job done.

I'd forgotten about that in fairness. But that's as good as it got.

Poor first half, fairly average second half - about standard for a Leeds performance against one of the "lesser teams" this year

For his first try Gibson got the ball down with several Leeds players around him, he must be good icon_smile.gif

JJB's pass to Sinfield was so bad he scored a try from it icon_razz.gif

Once again the Leeds singing section disgraced the club, club officials here is a clue, they stand at the back and in the middle home and away!

I agree with you. I think we were lucky that Salfords best two players were missing, and inparticular Holdsworth. This is what this Leeds team have become, struggling to beat an under strength Salford side. A 25 minute spell in the second half does not hide that. The defence has not shown any improment all season, and quite frankly is an embarrassment at times. We are still doing that stupid awful hospital pass in middle of the field from Sinny.

Amazing Kirke was the only player to stand out in that poor first half. In the second period I only really saw JJB, Webb, Buderus and Sinfield really stepping up the gears.

How is this any different to last year?

It's groundhog year both in terms of the Leeds performances at this stage and the idiot fans over reaction to them. They've learned nothing.

Why is it idiotic to want your team to play as well as they can in every game?
A win is worth 2 points no matter whom you beat.
Or is this just another example of you making provocative statements simply to gain a reaction?

Rational people just know it's never going to happen and accept it. Irrational people go on about it every year and are then proved wrong at the end of the year. If they trot the same lines out every year they'll eventually get it right and then they can say "told you so". Thing is though, they'll still have been wrong to write the team off at that point in the season.

At least we have now guaranteed a play-off place now

It isn't. In my opion we won some games we maybe should have lost last year: Hull kr away, wakey away, wire at home, cas away, hudds at home. this season we didn't have that bit of luck or craft or the bounce of a ball. We were poor last season and poor this. We haven't been as good as last season but not a million miles away. Our main strength is we know how to win big games.

My musings:

Salford lost the game in the first half. So much time on our try line with only a 6 point half time lead was where they slipt up. Thought Matty Smith pulled the strings but they couldn't create enough. Relied 2 muchon the reverse pass against the ruck. Not a bad tactic as Leeds haven't been strong here this year. They should have moved the ball around more. So much time on our try line and they looked alot more tired than us. Leeds just sat on their try line and soaked up drive after drive. Salford mentally tired.

In the first half Leeds didn't look after the ball......again. But came out of the blocks quick and started a successful offload game. Nice to see Ali in the thick of it.

Once we were in front we looked comfortable and the chance of a Salford comeback was never on the cards.

Gibson shone outwide. Limited chances but the 2 he had he made the most of. His first score was a nice reminder of the hidden power he has. Hall and Smith should have stopped him.

Leeds MOM had to be JJB. Kicked on from last weeks improved performance with a cracker of a game. He needs to keep out wide. That is where he can do most damage. Strong running on the fringes and in the second half kept getting offload after offload out.

Webb was a welcome comeback. Solid at the back and made 1 on 1 tackles as the last line of defence, something that Smith hasn't been doing. Thought he looked a bit ginger in the first half. Didnt want to return the ball. Opted to pass to Hall/Donald. Got stronger as the game wore on.

Donald - took try well from a Delaney assist (wow!!)

buy was at fault for Broughton's score. Webb clearly called it and Donald got on the way. Farce!

Smith - ok.

Delaney - powerful running. Apart from the Donald pass didn't look like putting him away. On 2 occasions in the first half, he didnt even scan to weigh up options just ran straight. Should have been more composed with his double movement. Was clearly tackled. Quick PTB and somethign would have been on.

Hall - strong. Took scores well. So he can score without Senior, who'd have think it???



Sinfield and McGuire - patchy. When our tales were up they took hold of the game. Sinfield's pass selection and his speed of pass was questionable at times.

Kylie - best prop. Thunderous drives. Moved us forward.

Buderus - poor first half. Improved second.

Bailey - does what he does. Solid as a rock in defence. Marshalled the middle of the defensive line with confidence. Was a nice constant to have with the number of handling errors floating about.

Clarkson - very impressed the more I see him. Works hard and has lovely feet and determination. Who mentioned signings with quality kids like this kncoking about???

Ablett - meh.

Kirke - took try well. Went off injured with an arm/shoulder injury.

Ali - the second half was made for him.

McShane - Nice cameo. Tried to fish out a couple of penalties. Poor handling error, but the only cross on a limited appearance.

Burgess - hmmmm. 2 silly penalties for sloppy high tackles and an awful knock on. Those who declare him concrete boots will feel their argument has been cemented!!! BOOM BOOM!!! On a positive side he improved in the second half with some better drives and bigger hits. Came out also for at least 2 'big hits' and missed them both and left a huge gap in defence. I don't know why he continues to do this, his success rate at doing this probably at about 20%. Needs to sharpen up if he wants to retain his place.

Overall it was a game to take the 2 points and run home with. If Salford had have converted first half pressure into points it could have been a different game. With big games just round the corner it could be a vital 2 points that leads us into the top 4 and aids our quest for 4 in a row!

Friday at Headingley will be a belter.

Reds on top in first half,Leeds on top 2nd half - another embarrassing performance from Mr Bentham

- that's about the whole story

Correct. No different at all so what Gotcha says we have become is complete codswallop.

Out of passing interest, what did they do wrong?

On the game itself, I thought first half was extremely poor, and the second half we most certainly stepped it up a few gears. Ali with his trademark plays seemed to change the game imo.

Just a typical performance that we have come to expect this year against one of the 'lower teams with the good and not so good mixed in.

And very interesting they were to. I hope people will take the time to flick back a page and read them.

Such offerings are regrettably few and far between these days around these parts.