Leeds Rhinos at home would be a cracker . Think pushing for another championship club would be risky on our current performances -

Was bit disappointed with today's game - Siddal were down a player for last 10 mins and we didn't capitalise on this.

Joe Parkinson slotted in well
Gav Duffy poor today ( normally like but he had an off day today)

Credit to Siddal they didn't give up - one thing was I'm sure they used to many subs though but maybe this is aloud ?

No, I think your right. In the 2nd half I stood on the dugout side and their replacements appeared to be going on when they wanted to and without permission of the 4th official who was having job keeping. In the amature game, its unlimited replacements, but the Cup its 12 maximum. The MC holding Cougars replacement cards in the 2nd half more or less confirms this.

Also I have to question were Siddal really prepared to stage the game anywhere other than at The Shay or Cougar Park. A number of reasons spring to mind. 2 balls for the whole game, lack of Ballboys in the 1st 10mins, and scoreboard operators who lost interest and went walkies in the 2nd half.

I heard Paul March on the radio afterwards and he questioned if the ground was really up to standard for that stage of the Cup.

Having seen the video (I accept was only the highlights) it seems to show things being let go by the official. It looked like the one and only Mr Bloem. Can anyone confirm?

If so, isn't he an official from Halifax? Taking charge of a game involving Siddal? You can clearly see the point of the elbow being pushed into the face of our player in the second half, in full view of the official, but no penalty.

Whilst I accept Siddal were the amateurs and underdogs, surely rules regarding interchanges and foul play have to be adhered to, otherwise what is the point. The venue clearly wasn't up to the required standard for that level of competition and the RFL needs to have a look a few things IMO.

I was lead to believe yesterday it is 10 subs in Challenge cup.

However I think the official was maybe working to 12 perhaps not aware.

They also didn't notice 3 players on the bench at half time were on the field at the start of the second half and that is were the 15 comes from.

All credit to Siddal for a fine defensive display, midway through the second half it looked like they were crumbling but they tenaciously stuck to the task and even scored a try at the death.

A nice big, flat pitch which looked in reasonable condition considering the weather we've been having, but I don't know what it was like in the middle. The ground coped with the crowd, but only just. The area around the pitch was flat and would have benefitted from a shallow terrace (like the Fylde ground where Blackpool played). But obviously that depends on what size there usual crowd is.

Nice clubhouse with a selection of beers and hot food and drinks. Outside were more food stalls selling BBQ and pulled pork.

All in all I thought Siddal put up a good effort, well done.



Edit: I thought the ref (Jamie Bloom) was reasonably fair.

Heartily agree with Dreamer about the match. Siddal are a good tough side who put a lot into the game. The venue was OK and coped quite well. I too though Jamie Bloem was fair and in fact if you were a Siddal fan you may have though he favoured Keighley with a penalty count 8-5 in our favour. Scott Leatherbarrow continues to impress and Brendan Rawlins had a stand-out game.