So Lilley kicked the 2 goals we actually scored?

York have always been very well drilled under Ford. I think we’re less clinical than they are. However if we had a more settled spine this wouldn’t be as much of an issue IMO.

We’ve had 15 different combinations at 1, 6, 7 and 9 in our starting 17 in 26 games so far.

And that doesn’t include when we bring on a bench hooker or change the spine during a game.

For me that’s too many changes to play in a settled manner. I’d be interested to see how many York have had in comparison. Not all these changes have been tactical, a lot have been down to injury.

No Keyes kicked 2/4. Lilley 0/1.

I think if you put all the controversy to one side and look at yesterday's game we pretty much beat ourselves. We gifted them 2 try's and countless silly penalties, not to mention the missed kicks. I think the pressure of yesterday almost being a must win game to reach the play offs certainly got to them.

You've got to think though, we are a team that pretty much started from scratch 2 years ago and in that time we have been relegated, promoted and this year have challenged for a play off spot in the Championship - not a bad turnaround!

It's clear to see that we lack a bit of experience and at times leadership but we have a relatively young squad. The more this team plays together the better they will get, our biggest challenge is keeping SL clubs from poaching more of our talent.

I'm a bit gutted that we are probably going to miss out on a top 5 spot, but I think we have a real chance of making the play offs next season if we can add one or two big, hard running players and have a consistent half back pairing between Lilley and Keyes

No, Keyes missed one from the touch line. Then a simple looking penalty to the side of the posts. Then for some inexplicable reason Lilley took a conversion, again at the side of the post and missed (6 points, 4 of them gimmees gone right there) Keyes then took over again and nailed one from touchline and another missable one before missing the last one from touchline.

Hopefully with Keyes now fit, we can see them two gel together. Joe Brown looked excellent yesterday and should be given the 1 shirt now until the end of the season. Was interesting to see how vocal he was too which was impressive for such a young man.

Apart from Ryan & possibly Brown I'm not sure who else is approaching SL standard. York are in a similar position. Though one of their fans I was talking to was bigging up Robinson as the next Danny Brough. I didn't see that to be honest. Both clubs would need huge investment to make the next step.

Can't complain about any lack of effort yesterday. We just aren't clinical enough and fail to take our chances. Will be interesting to see the highlights but there are a few things that stick in my mind.

Firstly how inconsistent Ethan Ryan has been since a) he was switched to full back, and b) the rumours of him signing at HKR came out. For me he's playing ok for a Championship player and is nowhere near SL standard. If I were HKR i'd be worried about his lack of form and ability to cut out silly mistakes and loose carries.

Secondly, team selection was again appalling. I was lucky enough to be invited to see the captains run on Saturday and we got to see first hand the starting 17 put through their paces. I couldn't quite believe why we went with only two recognised props, especially when Bustin and Magrin were fit enough to play an active part in the full session. Yes they have both made mistakes but when they are carrying the weight of the team going forward in reduced numbers, its going to cause fatigue and missed tackles.

Third, I said in an earlier thread how poor I thought Steve Crossley was. I was slated at the time but I see a few are actually also coming forward now and saying the same thing. He's slow, lacks mobility and loses the collision pretty much every carry. Yes he might be a leader but when the leaders are failing to lead by example, what does that say to the rest of the team? But yet again, Kear gushes about how good he was. Sorry John, but you're losing the plot mate.

And there goes the issue... Kear's stubbornness and failure to adapt to the challenges faced. I've said before and I'll say it again. I'm not suggesting we make a change to the coaching team but someone has to stand up and say that for the level of investment in the squad (the 4th highest in the Championship supposedly) we have underachieved, both last year (highest spenders and had to scrap in via the playoffs) and this year.

If we don't make Top 5, at the very least I would hope that a discussion goes on behind the scenes about the playing style as I'm not sure I could cope with another year of five drives and a kick without my head exploding!!!

Elliot top of tackle count yesterday with 49.
Is it too many?
I’d like to see him more as an attacking threat

To be fair I think our attack is much much better than the 1 up stuff we were doing earlier in the year. Everyone gushes about Ford's style of play (rightly IMO) and Kears boring style, but two of our tries were excellent rugby drawing the man in and getting the Winger in the corner. York scored an intercept , a virtual own try by Ryan and another off a kick. If that had been us we'd have been going potty about our attack. There were moments in the game we seemed to lose our way, but overall I thought we threw the ball about well and have been doing for weeks. Concentrationand schoolboy errors are our biggest issue at the moment.

Agree on the rest though.