I thought referee had a reasonable game, he tried to let both teams play and when he put Gloucester on a team warning for persistent penalties he followed through and put a player in the bin.
I thought we were good in the first half and second 20 minutes of the second half. However we can't afford to switch off and give away penalties after penalty, to loose two tries when they were down to twelve men was criminal.
Thought the two DR players were due their spot this week. Still concerned about David F-J defence when one on one, but was impressed with our pack, thought they took the ball forward well.
The result will flatter us when we only played for 75% of the game, that needs addressing. Notwithstanding all the negatives, I am still hopeful for the season.

Thought Yeaman and Feka did well. Also thought Milton had a very good game. Personally I disagree about the referee how someone didn't walk for that tackle on Yeaman is beyond me. There was a lot of other stuff like that, that went unpunished. On a related note I sincerely hope Yeaman is ok.

Tbh so far Makali has been uninspiring, I'm hoping we get more from him in the future.

Feka was brilliant today ran with purpose. Yeaman also was better and agree someone should have gone for that tackle
also agree Milton played well made a couple of tries 1st half.
2nd half we were shocking and Kes had the worst game i've seen with the penalties given away. Cross came back on and completely changed the game
in the last 10 mins back in our favour, his vision and backing up was really good and deserved the MOTM.

Was matty welham injured?
Agree Milton played well! Only saw 1 penalty from Kes when he was being held down. May be wrong though.
Another quiet game Liam welham.

I actually thought Liam did a good shift, particularly tackling

Thought the discipline in the first half was a massive improvement, two penalties conceded before Kes had his rush of blood late in the half.

Agree that he had a poor game and Cross deserves to keep his place - injected pace & enthusiasm when he was on the field and support play was rewarded with his tries.

Yeaman was missed after going off, massive improvement from the Crusaders match.

Milton looked quality and certainly looks an excellent addition to the spine. It's been a good few years since we had a good ball handling loose forward. Must have run Cross close for mom.

Should be a good test at Keighley next week to see how far we've progressed.

Discipline has got to be sorted we gave away too many silly penalties today, let them get back into the game until the late rally.
We scored some good tries and our goal line defence was good.

Milton & Cross were stand outs .

COYD

I'd not really noticed George Milton before today but made a conscious effort to watch for him before the match started. I was impressed. He reminded me quite a lot of Grant Edwards in his style of play and willingness to tackle.

Our defence was generally good especially down the middle. Feka had a big influence and helped swing the game our way towards the end. Keiron Cross added some much needed pace when he was on the pitch. Well done to him.

We're our own worst enemies at times especially when we let kick-offs bounce and give away silly penalties. We really need to address these issues.

Going forward we looked like a team that hadn't played together much. Maybe the required cohesion will come but we definitely need to work on this. We were fine going down the middle but not very good when we tried to throw the ball about.

We've certainly got a talented bunch of players. How far we can go will be determined by how much they continue to improve.

Hope Howden is back soon, Sheriff off the bench .
We will have a lot of competition for the 17 when we get the injured players back. Zac unlucky to loose his place but he will get other chances I am sure .
Some work to do but some positives also.
Also saw a few old faces back in the crowd.

COYD

I agree Zac was unlucky to lose his place.

I think that when Howden is fit he'll play Sherriff at full back and put Carr on the wing. Whilst Carr's goal-kicking isn't the best, I think we need him on the field to take the kicks.

We also need to work on our touch kicking from penalties. Some of the efforts so far this season have been poor.

That scoreline does not tell the story of the game ... it flatters us.
It shouldn't have since given our start the final score should have been nearer 60.
But we demonstrated that we are a squad of two teams .... one that has got some zip and one that plays like they don't have a clue.

Much as I now like Thornton, I think he has to take some of the blame.
Why?
Because I think he is doing a Sven ( remember that useless git who used to sit on his hands while England struggled?).
Gary ... REACT!!!

We could have lost that game before we won it.
Gloucester had more than a whiff of victory at 16-8 and we're held up over the line on more than one occasion.
A try then and the wheels could have come off ... rudderless, clueless from Yeaman's try until well, well into the latter stages.
Nobody in that crowd could have counternanced a Gloucester win.
But at that point we were shoite and they wanted the game.
Finally the change came ... the pace that was needed came and we got out of jail.

I also think in the first half that we waited TOO LONG before Feka came on.
We had flagged and we needed the change.
When things are going wrong ... do something quick. Don't follow a timing script! As in, it says here 'Feka to come on after 25 mins for max impact' ... scallops to that!

In fact play a stronger starting side.
Harsh?
Don't think so.

We badly need a leader on the park.
As DM says, we are STILL letting the ball bounce ... catch the fooker!
Still infringing ...
Let's get smarter ... please?!

Zac currently out with a back injury.

This a million times this. Also the penalty thing as well. Based on this performance for me we need to drop Jones-Bishop for M Welham. I know a couple of weeks ago at home Matty did not have an especially great game under the high ball but last week he was calling for it and catching it every time, whereas Aaron has, for a number of weeks, been unable to do likewise.

came away , happy with the result but a lot worried about how we achieved it, we played well in patches but dire at times to. I am aware that we are a new team and still need time to gel but the basics like taking an high ball from the kick off and giving away endless penalties are schoolboy errors . To be fair to the two DR players they did make a difference. Dont really know how we will do away next week we have a lot to do but fingers crossed. 13, and 9, played really well loved "foggys" sprint down the line think there will be a lot more of them to come. COYDs.

Fair comments from Harworthdon a bit more subtle than S-O.

I am too old to fanny around any more.
The message is still the same.

And a great help for folk who can't get down to the games just yet. An insightful 'alternative' match report I would say.

Cheers Alan ... It's warts and all with me every time.

The thing is we've had 3 competitive games this season and already won more games than the whole of last season.
So thats one plus point.
I think we will get better as a team as time goes on. But as said the penalties and the ability to catch the ball needs to be addressed pretty quickly.

its a shame were meeting Kiethley so early in the season (as mentioned earlier). Personaly I think we have the makings of a decent team from what Ive seen so far. if this fixture was another 4 or 5 games away I think we would give them a good run for their money. Im optimistic for this weekend if they have a bad day and we tighten things up, who knows what may happen. COYDs

https://youtu.be/ZYD4Zr46d9Q Thanks to Rob for this

https://youtu.be/ZYD4Zr46d9Q Thanks to Rob for this

Dons now 2nd favourites to win league after Sun result at Keighley.
Toulouse 7/4 Dons 4/1 Rochdale 3rd @ 9/2. Keighley now 5th fav @ 13/2

Keighley fav for ipro sport cup 7/4 DONS 4/1 2nd fav.

all on skybet

Odd that were more likely than Keighley for the league but less likely in the cup. Considering we have a home draw in the quarters against a team with lower odds

exactly, that's why I've taken us win cup while odds are decent.

If we can upset the odds on June 4th then that 4/1 looks tempting. Two days off D Day anniversary can it be a Dons day.