Just on the way back - a few thoughts

Not a great display overall. Even 10 points down we never looked like losing but there's work to be done in a few key areas. Positives were Tickle's try from a set play, and some excellent performances in the pack. Dowes was in great form tonight - one of the best games I've seen him play. Purposeful running, solid defence and some very good offloads. Tickle was also a stand-out. Calderwood looked more assured tonight and up for any sniff of an opportunity. We never really managed to kill the game off which was a bit disappointing. Downsides for me were our inability to stop the offload and our kicking in general play - Houghton's was probably the best of the night. After Thornan and Horne were so good at Leeds, this as a bit disappointing. TBF Celtic were very good in the first quarter and hugely fired up for it so they do deserve some credit. As someone said on the match thread, it was reminiscent of the 2006 campaign, so here's hoping.

Good turnout from FC - there were a few hundred there.

Brewery Field isn't a great venue. The standing stand has the shallowest steps ever and the toilets were a joke - half a dozen temporary cubicles

It was never going to be easy Celtic lost 2 and all the razmatazz etc...
Dowes fitness this season is awesome I have always rated Tickle.
Personally I think it is not a bad thing that the flaws show up in these early matches gives us more to work on and improve on..some wins are ugly thats a fact remember our run of 17 wins we sneaked a few there



It is a positive start to the season and the boys can gian confidence form that and build on that

Sounds like Caravan Park.

Maybe Dowes going on his Rambo fitness co has paid dividends.

Shame he didn't get to finish it.

Said about 1300 on radio

Would have said about that but didn't want to over-estimate

Nope leave that to us men

Called poetic licence isn't it?

few 100?,
there was at least 2 thousand hull,
and if the attendance was 5 thousand,
thats beyond me,
hardly any celtic

haven't seen the game, but it sounds like we played poorly/averagely...but a big difference is that we've done that and come home with 2 points, which at the end of the day is all that matters, we can 'peak' later in the season and play awesome rugby then!

Caravan Park compared to Brewery Feld is like the KC compared to Caravan Park

That was true for large parts of the game, unfortunately. Especially disappointing was our almost total inability to prevent the offload and letting in two soft tries on our left flank.

I thought that Tickle, Dowes, R Horne and Berro were our best players. A few others need to up their games, including Thacks and Manu.

Should have gone inside the stand at the back, just near the toilets. Indoor toilets!

Not too impressed with those Hull fans who chose to pick fights in the away stand.

We had prior experience with the facilities at Brewery Field, so opted to use the loos at Tesco instead.


I saw the stewards arrive off to the right of me but didn't see any actual punch up.

Mate I was with had gone to the loos and came back saying she saw a fight as she went. She just missed the one that was happening in front of me when she got back. One guy provoked the other, stewards came and took the guy away 5 mins later. Stewards also took two lads away later on, not sure why though, don't think it was fighting, but some people in the upper tier of the stand pointed them our for something.

From wot i could make out from blunderside commentary crusaders had a great start for 15-20 mins then hull put pressure on for short bursts but didnt capitalise on some decisions/metres made for 2nd and 3rd quarters and slowed in last quarter...heard alot about dowes.

That was the 'incident' I saw.

Total s, pulled a couple of these n0bs of the celtic fan they was having a go with, who was on his own w@nkers

I thought the Crusaders started very well, helped in no small quarter by FC's inability to prevent the offload and their reluctance to step up off the mark and put pressure on the Crusaders at the play the ball. FC looked good in spells, but that's all it was, spells. We had plenty of possession but didn't seem able to do much with it at times. The stand out performance has got to be Danny Tickle, he was on fire tonight. Berro, RH and Dowes were the other players worth a mention. The kicking game though was awful with almost every kick going straight down the throat of the Crusaders.

It's difficult to say how satisfactory the performance actually was due it being such an emotional night for the Crusaders and the extra fire they had in their bellies, especially the first 15-20 mins. Once FC got on the score board the tide turned and the Crusaders never really looked like winning the game, but at the same time, FC never looked like being able to truly kill the game off. All in all though, a win is a win and if the boys continue to improve then there is no reason why we can't finish in the top 6. Oh, and it was a nice birthday pressie for me





Got to mention the Burger bar in the town where we grabbed a bite to eat before going to the ground. I ordered food for the four of us but they forgot to do my lads burger so we had to wait for them to cook it, then the guy serving us apologised and gave us a free 10" pizza. Top bloke

I didn't see any of the trouble mentioned so far, though we did move at half time because of a real gobby FC t@*t standing right behind us. It was bad enough that every other word that came out of his gob began with a F, but when that changed and the C word replaced it that was it. NO NEEEEED

Sounds like the guy who sits behind me in the South Stand at th KC (well he did sit behind me until i moved)...complete idiot, who starts the majority of his sentances (if he can string a sentance together) with either a or a c**t!!!! Make matters worse his partner is exactly the same!!!

Hey what was the attendance by the way?

Just over 5200

Cheers. Prob at least 1000 of that being Hull you reckon? (which is good support if so by the way). Still got my doubts about CC, someone in paper predicted a 12,000 capacity, 'partisan' crowd!