Saturday 30 June 2012

Lincoln Ladies 1 v. Bristol Academy Women 3 - FA WSL

Saturday 30th June 2012,
at Ashby Avenue (home of Lincoln United FC)
FA Women's Super League
Lincoln Ladies (1) 1
Precious Hamilton 2
Bristol Academy Women (3) 3
Jess Fishlock 6, Natasha Harding 14, Nikki Watts 34
Admission £6, Programme £1.50, Attendance 226
Lincoln Ladies
Hobbs, Daly, McCallum, Bradley, Stoney, Megan Harris, Hamilton, Cantrell, Allen, Walton, Staniforth
Subs: Horwood, Martha Harris, Clarke, Barker, Roberts, Rood
Bristol Academy Women
Chamberlain, Dykes, Yorston, Rose, McCatty, James, Fishlock, Lawley, Harding, Watts, Del Rio
Subs: Windell, Isacc, Curson, Simkin
Prior to kick off, four of the top six teams in the WSL were sat on 8 points apiece, with third placed Lincoln at the top of that quartet, on goal difference.
Following today's result, Bristol are now third, level with second placed Birmingham City, on 11 points, while the Lady Imps slipped to fifth in the table.
Aim ...

Lincoln were already a goal to the good after just two minutes, with Bristol still finding their bearings, Precious Hamilton got onto the end of Collette McCallum's cross in behind the Academy side's defence, to steer the home side in front.
But their joy was short lived, as the visitors pulled themselves back on level terms in the sixth minute and then began to assert themselves on the game.
Bristol's captain and the main contender for the 'woman of the match', Jess Fishlock, fired home the equaliser, from a free kick out on the left, that went in through a scrum of bodies.
You could say that Lincoln's keeper, Nicola Hobbs, should've dealt better with the in-swinging dead ball, but her path was blocked by a cluster of bodies around a crowded back stick and any number of Lincoln players could have headed the ball clear before it nestled just inside the post, so you couldn't really put all of the blame on one person.
Either way, it was a quality strike.
Fire! Jess Fiahlock equalises with a direct free kick

The visitors were 2-1 ahead on 16 minutes, when Laura Del Rio, perfectly timed her cross from out on the left for Natasha Harding, just as she arrived unmarked inside the box to power home a header beyond Nicola Hobb, who this time had been left completely exposed by her defence, who had gone AWOL, having been completely wrong footed by the length of Del Rio's delivery.
Despite Nicola Hobbs and Sophie Bradley's efforts,
Nikki Watts puts Bristol 3-1 ahead


Harding was again involved in Bristol's third goal.
Her shot cum cross was difficult to deal with for Hobbs, who couldn't hold onto the ball ... Sophie Bradley was on hand to try hooking the ball away, but Nikki Watts was indulging in a spot of goal hanging (a most noble of ancient arts, if ever there was one) and took advantage of the panic in Lincoln's ranks to knock the ball home.
After the break, the game went off the boil a bit entertainment wise ... the visitors knew they could let Lincoln come at them and counter attack on the break as and when, the Imps were repeatedly thwarted in their attempts to break down an impressive Bristol rearguard ... and last but not least, an overly fussy, picky and often baffling display by the whistle happy referee Nigel Smith, rendered inert the possibly of any kind of flow to the game.
Late on, with Lincoln trying to push forward to get back in the game, Bristol's Jess Fishlock came closest to scoring again, but her effort from twenty yards out flew narrowly high and wide of the target.
I've seen Lincoln Ladies in action several times before and they are capable of playing much better than they did today.
As for Bristol Academy Women; this is the first time I've ever seen them play, but if their first half display is typical of how they usually perform, then I'm not at all surprised that they are now level on points with second placed Birmingham City.

Thursday 28 June 2012

England - EURO 2012

Roy Hodgson's ultra defensive tactics against the Italians, were universally chastised and rubbished after Sunday night's defeat on Penalties.
Tonight, the vastly superior and much fancied Germans, showed just what could be achieved by leaving themselves exposed at the back and throwing caution to the wind against Italy.
Whoops!
England ground out the results they needed to win Group D.
It wasn't aesthetically pretty to watch.
In fact at times, it was downright dull.
But, borne out of necessity, organisation and graft won the day ... and those who were screaming at their TV sets, demanding 'crash, bang, wallop' break-neck pace football, committing everybody forward while leaving our back doors vulnerable to getting bashed in, obviously don't understand the nature of the beast that is a qualifying group.
The engine room players, pivotal components in the England team, were clearly not fully fit and in one or two cases, carrying knocks that were hampering their mobility, most noticeably the usually influential Scott Parker.
Wayne Rooney too, lacked sharpness after a spell of inactivity (of his own making).
But, with the group games out of the way and the prospect of having to face real quality sides, like Italy, Rooney had to be thrown into the fray at some point and get some much needed minutes under his belt.
It was pleasing to see Rooney keeping his temperament in check during the two games he played in. That bodes well for future campaigns, where he can be part of the team instead of watching from the bench while serving out suspensions, for letting the red mists descend.
To my mind, Rooney has yet to make anything like the impression at international level that he has done for both Everton, where he burst onto the scene as a youngster and Manchester United, but if he's really on top of keeping his heat of the moment indiscretions in check, then his time could still come.
The continued selection of James Milner was lambasted in many quarters, yet though his touch and contribution during games was often less than eye catching, his non stop running, covering the ground that his nowhere near fully fit midfield team mates were struggling to get anywhere near and work off the ball was actually quite outstanding.
Ultimately, in their final game of the tournament, England came unstuck against a better team, who possessed a sprinkling of quite outstanding individuals, the like of who we could only dream of ever having on board ... that's Marion Balotelli and Andrea Pirlo in case you were looking the other way and missed their obvious class and the immense difference they made to the game.
Gianluigi Buffon, Italy's in form goalkeeper, is quite possibly the best player in the world in his position at this moment in time too.
In their quarter final game, Hodgson's side, after pushing forward for the first ten minutes, adopted an Alamo type rearguard action against the dominant Italians for the remainder of the game ... and in spite of what all the self appointed experts are saying, they deserve a lot of credit for hanging on and keeping Cesare Prandelli's out for as long as they did ... it was fairly obvious, as they limped out of the group stages on tired limbs, that they weren't going to go much further in the tournament anyway.
The "We're not going home" songs from England's travelling support after their victory over Ukraine, when they merely needed a draw to reach the knockout stages, was an outpouring of relief, as much as anything else.
I'd originally predicted, that England would probably get as far as the quarter finals and that was about it this time around, during a 'light hearted debate' where my work colleagues were casting doubts that 'we'd' even get through the group stages and laughing at my 'misplaced patriotic optimism'.
There's always one, eh!?
And I'm not unduly phased by the fact that it's normally me ...
Given the tools that Roy Hodgson had at his disposal, though I hate it, really, REALLY hate it, when England lose, I'm realistic as regards any hopes and aspirations I have as regards the limitations of the team that represents the country that I had the good fortune to be born in ... and though England expects (that's the England that reads the Sun and lets TV presenters over inflate the team's chances and kid sheep like goggle box watchers into believing all sorts of misguided garbage) too much at times, I'm not overly disappointed that we only got through to the quarter finals stage, before bowing out, against a much better team.
That said, it's only cold comfort to know that a vastly more skilful side, couldn't actually beat Roy Hodgson's men over 120 minutes and had to resort to the by now traditional method of eliminating England from an international tournament. Penalties!
Even when Ricardo Montolivo, fired wide with Italy's second spot kick, to give England a massive advantage in the shoot out, what was about to happen next still seemed all too inevitable.
My heart sank when I saw the dread on Ashley Young's face as he walked forward uneasily to take his turn in the shoot out lottery.
Bugger!
Roy Hodgson had a game plan, to nullify the strengths of the opposition, which could be switched around and tweaked if the need arose, i.e. introducing Theo Walcott against the Swedes to great effect.
During his short spell in charge, he's quickly assessed his teams weaknesses and introduced a system that prevents the England team from being the architects of their own undoing (I hardly need to list past examples of where this hasn't been the case).
But, as for playing to their strengths.
Hmm, apart from defensive qualities, there weren't an awful lot of those to work with.
But now the new man in charge has taken his make do and mend squad through to the quarter finals of the the European Championships, he'll have a clear picture of what the job entails and be able get on with the task of stamping his authority all over the role, without having to suffer the usual millstone burden of (over) expectation that previous England managers have had hung around their necks the moment they've entered office.
Incidentally, I'm really looking forward to the Italy v Spain final, of what's been a really good tournament on Sunday, bring it on ... and then it's only a few days until the 2012-13 pre season friendlies start :-)
The only downside of EURO 2012 for me, was that Mark Lawrenson's microphone was switched on.
In closing, thanks to a minority of my friends in Scotland (but, I hasten to add, not the sensible majority of them) for your gloating texts and Facebook messages after England's defeat, they cheered me up no end.
The adage that there is always someone worse off than yourself, never rang truer.
I know that my national side is average, but I've hired the Hubble telescope and still can't find a trace of yours, they're so far behind in the grand scheme of things.
But you don't care about the Scotland team, you're too busy creaming your underwear when England lose instead ... fact.
I know it and though you're loathe to admit it, you know it too.
England probably won't win another major tournament in my lifetime, yet the fear and worry that they might just get close one of these days (aye right!), really gets your juices going every couple of years doesn't it!?
Never mind, you can show us how good you are at Wembley next year ... see you there?
Thought not!

Sunday 17 June 2012

England 1 v Holland 0 - UEFA Women's European Championship 2013 Qualifier

Sunday 17th June 2012, at the Salford City Stadium
UEFA Women's European Championship 2013 Qualifier
England (0) 1 - Rachel Yankey 67
Holland (0) 0
Admission £5 (50p booking fee), Programme £3
Attendance 5,505

Print 'yer own at home E-Ticketing ... it's the future!

England
1 Rachel Brown, 2 Alex Scott, 3 Steph Houghton, 4 Jill Scott,
5 Sophie Bradley, 6 Casey Stoney(C), 7 Eniola Aluko,
8 Fara Williams, 9 Rachel Williams (18 Ellen White 46 mins),
10 Karen Carney (12 Anita Asante 72mins), 11 Rachel Yankey,
Unused Subs - 13 Siobhan Chamberlain, 14 Rachel Unitt,
15 Laura Bassett, 16 Jade Moore, 17 Dunia Susi

Holland
1 Loes Geurts, 2 Dyanne Bito, 3 Daphne Koster(C),
4 Mandy van den Berg (19 Leonne Stentler 86' mins),
5 Claudia van den Heiligenberg, 6 Anouk Hoogendijk,
7 Marlous Pieete (17 Sylvia Smit 74 mins), 8 Sherida Spitse,
9 Manon Melis, 10 Maayke Heuver (12 Marije Brummel 72 mins),
11 Lieke Martens
Unused Subs - 13 Sari van Veenendaal, 14 Petra Hogewoning,
15 Desiree van Lunteren, 18 Nangila van Eyck
A fairly scrappy game, all told ... but England needed a win, to keep their hopes of automatic qualification to Euro 2013 alive, so a gung ho, up and at 'em approach, leaving gaps at the back for the group leaders Holland to exploit, was never likely to be an option today.
As it stands, England are now second in the group, 2 points behind the Dutch, but with a game in hand.
On Thursday, the Lionesses women face an away fixture in Velenje, against a Slovenia team who they've already beaten, 4-0 (in Swindon, back in September).
Then they play Croatia at home (venue TBC) on September 19th, who they beat 6-0 in Vrbovec in March of this year.
Only the group winners will qualify automatically.
So two wins would see them through to the Euro 2013 finals in Sweden ... though it's still all ifs and buts for now, Hope Powell's side know what needs to be done and at least their destiny is still in their own hands.
As I've already said, this afternoon's game was a bit scrappy at times, with caution being the key word or both sides.
Don't get me wrong, there were some chances ... at both ends, but they were few and far between.
Women's football in this country is currently enjoying a boom time popularity wise, but this game would hardly have won over many new converts, from this evenings live television audience watching on BBC2. But surely even the most cynical of purist fans understand the ins and outs of qualification group football.
The second half was slightly better than the first, but it could hardly have been any less entertaining.
Ellen White did have the ball in the net early in the second half, but the flag had already gone up for an offside decision, before she even struck the ball home.
A couple of England free kicks around the edge of the visitors area amounted to nothing, but on 67 minutes, Holland captain Daphne Koster, brought Fara Williams on the edge of the box.
And while Loes Geurts frantically tried to get the Dutch defensive wall sorted out, Rachel Yankey took the free-kick quickly and found the back of the net.
That moment of quick thinking ingenuity, was still all that separated the sides at the end of the game.
Though Everton's Rachel Brown, in the England goal, had to be alert when holding on to Manon Melis' 20 yard, speculative injury time effort.
Not the most enthralling action I've ever seen, but today was all about taking points off your closest group rivals, so to that end ... a good evenings work for the England women and a majorly significant result. Job done!
There are those, who say that the Dutch, with their unique brand of support and the vibrant display of bright orange favours, add a great atmosphere and spectacle, to each and every game that they attend.
However ... I beg to differ!
But, due to there not being anything near a capacity crowd in the Salford City Stadium, we managed to relocate away from the irritating visitors, who'd turned the few rows behind us, into their base camp for the duration.
I'm all for unsegregated grounds and mixing with the opposition, but you've got to draw the line somewhere!
As for the Stadium itself.
This was a first time visit for me (still 'groundhopping', even though it's now the closed season), because there was a whole load of snow about, when I was going to drive over for the Salford City Reds v Castleford Tigers, Super League game earlier this season ... and knowing the area as well as I do, I wasn't keen on getting stranded there overnight, especially when that game was being televised anyway.
Thankfully, upon arrival, we were turned away from the car park, because I hadn't pre booked a £5 parking ticket in advance.
But there was a small roadside parking area, a couple of hundred yards away, that I managed to squeeze into. That meant we got a quick getaway at the end of the game, while people who had used the official car park ,had to wait for spectators who were on foot to leave the area before they were allowed to move ... and those in the aerodrome car park across the road (also £5) had to queue for ages before they could get out as well. I will remember this when I next travel over for a Rugby League fixture.
It's a functional and tidy enough arena, offering both standing and seating areas (which is a big plus in my book), it's easily accessible by road (including public transport) and caters for all ages ... except , today at least, for a few grumpy old gits who wanted a pint :-(
A UEFA ruling had decreed they couldn't sell alcohol in any of the public bars today.
Only UEFA delegates and their ilk in hospitality were allowed to have a drink.
The selfish bas, err... hypocrites!
But at least the stewards had a relaxed approach to people moving around the ground and didn't have the same kind of draconian attitude you quite often find yourself subjected to at football matches.
The M62 was a complete nightmare today, with it's mile upon mile of 50MPH average speed cameras, causing delays, in both directions ... but we were better stocked with supplies than Billy Bunter's picnic hamper and I'd specially prepared some seriously good tunes for the journey, so that (uncharacteristic) bit of forward planning, along with the entertainment provided by witnessing some of the mind boggling lane change manoeuvres going on around us, kind of eased the strain of the bumper to bumper slow 'progress', we got stuck in, for an all too time consuming part of our journey home.
Left click for enlarged image

Anyway ... Good luck to Hope Powell and her England women's team in Slovenia on Thursday.
And of course ... to the other England team who are playing against the Ukrainians in Donetsk on Tuesday night.

Saturday 16 June 2012

Nottingham Outlaws 30 v St. Albans Centurions 22 - Rugby League National Conference Div. 3 ... plus extras

Saturday 16th June 2012, at the Harvey Hadden Stadium
Midlands Rugby League - Division 1 East
Nottingham Outlaws 'A' 24
Wolverhampton 14
Two games for the price of one at the Harvey Hadden, for the second weekend running, because the Outlaws 'A' team game, against Wolverhampton, had to be played on the main pitch prior to the first team's outing against St. Albans Centurions.
As wet and miserable afternoons go weather wise, this one was quite wet ... and bloody miserable too!
It was especially grim for Wolverhampton in the first half, as they had only managed to raise a 12 man team for the game and at times during the opening 40 minutes, they were completely over run, by an Outlaws side who had their full compliment of players available, plus a selection of subs to rotate, giving their team mates some much needed respite in the testing conditions.
A stiff wind blew across the pitch from the Wigman Road end, which was proving to be a real handful for the depleted visitors, who had to play into it and carry on regardless, with no squad members on the bench to provide back up.
Five minutes into the second half, a Wolverhampton player had to leave the pitch to receive some treatment, so the Outlaws, seeing as the odds were now 13 against 11, very sportingly, loaned them one of theirs.
For a while, after the injured party returned, the game was 13 aside for around twenty minutes, but the 'spare' man finished the game playing for his own team.
Wolves put up a dogged and determined rearguard action after the turnaround ... and for what it's worth, they actually won the second half and prevented the Notts side from adding to the total of 24 points they had amassed at the break, but they still finished with a ten point deficit, in a game that was always going to be an uphill struggle for them, giving the numerical disadvantage they had to overcome for most of the game.
Saturday 16th June 2012, at the Harvey Hadden Stadium
Rugby League National Conference Division 3
Nottingham Outlaws (22) 30
St. Albans Centurions (18) 22
Admission £3, Programme £2
Last week the Outlaws played against Bristol Sonics for the first time ever.
They had never played against St. Albans Centurions before today either.
And by way of a massive coincidence, they had to come back from being 12-0 behind, at home, to both league newcomers, before going on to win, on consecutive weekends.
It was evident from the outset, that the Cents were going to be a much tougher nut to crack than the Sonics turned out to be over the course of 80 minutes.
The visitors were well up for it today.
Outlaws v Cents team sheet ... Left click image to enlarge.

The Centurions side were 12 points ahead , when Gareth Walters and Ben Moore punished a couple of defensive errors by the home side, to score a try apiece inside the opening eight minutes ... both of which Moore converted.
Will Thomas cancelled out his slip at the back, when he ran the length of the pitch before touching down under the posts. His try was duly converted by Will Mellings
Mellings, making his debut for Nottingham today, then ran in a try of his own and kicked his side level on points.
But the visitors were soon back in front, through Marcus J Shaw and Moore's kick made the score 12-18.
And as the game swung from end to end, Mike Harrison went over for another four points for the Outlaws, with an unconverted try.
Before the break, Will Thomas showed he was well and truly over his shaky start, by scoring yet another try while a quartet of Cents players tried thwarting his progress ... and Will Mellings successfully kicked again, to make the score 22-18 as the teams took a half time breather, from this absorbing and engrossing contest.
Will Meddings ran in a try at the start of the second half and on 55 minutes, Paul Calland added another, to give the Outlaws a commanding 30-18 lead.
And then, for well over 20 minutes, the game became a very tight affair, a real ding dong battle, with neither side giving an inch as they entrenched themselves in position and locked horns in a physical encounter, that had firm but fair written all over it ... in fact, there were no further points on the score board until the very last minute, when Brad Webber broke free, following a scrum near the Outlaws line, to score a consolation try for the tenascious visitors.
The Outlaws victory was well deserved, but St. Albans had made them really have to dig in and battle for it.
An excellent advert all round, for amateur rugby league and a great afternoon's entertainment at the Harvey Hadden.

Saturday 9 June 2012

Nottingham Outlaws 46 v Bristol Sonics 20 - Rugby League National Conference Div. 3 ... plus extras


Left click all pictures for enlarged versions
Saturday 9th June 2012, at the Harvey Hadden Stadium
Midlands Rugby League - Division 1 East
Nottingham Outlaws 'A' (0) 18
Coventry Dragons (26) 48
The first time I ever visited the Harvey Hadden Stadium, was to watch my (then) teenage daughter representing North Notts schools at long distance running.
I used to encourage her to run 10 miles a day back then ... because it meant that every week, she'd be another 70 miles further away from home.
Before today's main event, I watched Nottingham Outlaws 'A' team play Coventry Dragons on the main pitch at the Harvey Hadden.
This 'groundshare' was borne out of necessity, because vandals have destroyed the posts on the usual Academy pitch, which is tucked away at the far side of the sports centre complex.
It seems that the local Rugby League club aren't the only outlaws on the block, but I s'pose this is Nottingham, when all said and done.
Coventry Dragons deservedly won the opening game of the day, against an Outlaws 'A' side who now find themselves on a three game losing streak ... and though they have now reached a points scored total of 100 for the season (in 5 games), the 216 points they have conceded makes for grim reading.
After touching down their first try, scored by Steve Hodson, in the right hand corner, the Dragons side never looked back and made time and space for themselves to effectively kill the game off by half time.
The visitors finished the first half off in style, with Phil Malloy, touching down underneath the posts, while Mark Hyslopp converted the resultant kick to give them a commanding 26-0 lead at the interval.
The Notts side gave a far better account of themselves after the break, but despite responding with a few tries of their own, they had given the Dragons far too much of a comfort zone, that afforded the visitors the luxury of being able to break quickly out of defence, whenever an Outlaws attack broke down, to push forward and maintain their unassailable lead.
Outlaws 'A' team, leaked a total 128 points in their last two games prior to today, for a return of just 26 points, in back to back games with second placed Sleaford Spartans.
But listening to some of the aftermatch comments from some of the players who stayed to watch the first team in action, they'll be pulling out all the stops to address their current form in next Saturday's game at the Harvey Hadden, against Wolverhampton.
Saturday 9th June 2012, at the Harvey Hadden Stadium
Rugby League National Conference, Division 3
(AKA Rugby League Conference National Division)
Nottingham Outlaws (20) 46
Tries: Strachan (12, 32), Crick (18), Spurgeon (24), Campbell (44),
Ephraim (46), Thomas (68), Hardacre (70), Calland (74)
Goals: Campbell 5
Bristol Sonics (12) 20
Tries: Rogers (2), Hall (8), Raymond (72), Pearson (78)
Goals: Swann 2
Admission £3, Programme £2
Pitchside debriefing for the 'A' team as the first team game gets going


Nottingham Outlaws:
1 Nick Tasker, 2 James Goodwin, 3 Coryn Ward, 4 Will Thomas
5 Sam Campbell, 6 Oliver Crick, 7 Alex Whittle, 8 Will Ephraim
9 Dan Smith, 10 Tom Atkinson, 11 George Strachan,12 Eddie Shaw
13 Matt Hammond
Subs - 14 Jodi Spurgeon, 15 Paul Calland, 16 Josh Hardacre
17 Steve Page
Bristol Sonics:
1 Mike Gatson, 2 Arran Pearson, 3 Marcus Brooker, 4 Dom Pullen
5 James Raymond, 6 Dom Swann, 7 Lewis Beer, 8 Ryan Hall
9 Pete Hayes, 10 Daniel Brooker, 11 Josh Simpson, 12 Matt Douglas
13 Wes Rogers
Subs - 14 Curtis Asante, 15 Joe Singleton, 16 Wijand Wormhoudt
17 Jake Robertson
Bristol Sonics, went into today's game with a less than enviable point scoring differential of 'For 78, Against 297', that's minus 219 for those of you not quick enough with your fingers and thumbs to beat the Chaser.
The Outlaws on the other hand, started the day, just 5 points behind THE STAGS AT THE TOP OF THE TABLE. That's the Hemel Stags of course, but it felt good to type that bit in bold, upper case letters... while it lasted.
Steve Page, deserves a special mention for dedication beyond the call of today, because he slotted in on the bench for the illness depleted Outlaws, having just put in a full 80 minutes for their 'A' team.
Despite the fact they have lost all of their previous games this season, the Sonics side set about the Outlaws from the off, with a display of attacking play that completely belied their league standing.
In fact, at the midway point of the first half, the visitors had powered their way into a 12-0 lead and were evidently paying scant regard to the league table, the form book or the script that said the Outlaws were favourites to win this game, which, for the record, is the first time that these two sides have ever played against each other.
But Nottingham were back in the game, after their captain George Strachan led his team by example: firstly by bundling his way through a packed defence and taking the ball over for the Outlaws opening try himself, with two Sonics players hanging onto him and then by opening up the Bristol defence and putting Oliver Crick in for the next one.
By half time the home side had turned the tables ... and they led 20-12 at the break.
Some of the people who'd travelled up with the Sonics, blamed the referee for turnaround, claiming he showed bias towards the home side.
Hmm, they must've been unsighted when Mr Edwards gave them a soft penalty inside the first 5 minutes then.
I'm no expert, but the ref didn't seem to do much wrong from where I was watching the game.
But, it's all about perceptions and opinions, exactly the same as it is with all competitive sports ... and the man in the middle, although only human and fallible, calls things right, the vast majority of the time.
And maybe we're all guilty of viewing decisions through rose (or even blue, or maroon) tinted glasses sometimes.
Especially the ones that don't go our way.
Thankfully, the stand at the Harvey Hadden provides great shelter from the ailments, because there was quite a strong wind whipping across the ground ... and in the second half the home side would have that blowing behind their backs.
Before the game started I'd been talking to a Bristol Sonics fan, a very pleasant and knowledgeable chap, who told me his side were holding their own against Coventry Bears at 12-12 last week, with half time approaching, but how they'd conceded a try just before the break and were over run in the second half, eventually losing 42-12.
This afternoon, sadly for those who had travelled so far to watch the game, the second half was very similar to last week's for the west country club.
Though they did start the second half promisingly and then weighed in with a couple of tries right at the death, both which went unconverted (the wind was playing havoc, with kicking towards the school house on Harvey Road), that give the final score more of a respectable look.
Their last try, following a 40 yard run down the left flank, was one to savour.
SPOT THE BALL
It's high and central between the posts.
In between Bristol's flurries at the beginning and end of the second half however, Nottingham were dominant, though the visitors couldn't be faulted for effort throughout and they weren't exactly shy when it came to getting their tackles in.
However, Oliver Crick put the Outlaws well on their way to victory, when he switched play into the path of Sam Campbell, who tore through the wrong-footed Sonics defence to touch down before successfully kicking for a further two points himself, to make the score 26-12.
The game became one way traffic for a while, as a buoyant Nottingham side turned the screw.
The Outlaws deserved to win against their hard working and spirited opponents ... and that was down to a few well worked second half tries, combined with no small amount of craft and guile in the visitors red zone.Paul Calland provided the highlight of the match, when he fooled everybody else on the pitch by feigning to pass both left, then right, before virtually walking home a try, straight underneath the posts, with both teams stood looking on wondering what on earth he was doing.
A moment that roused almost as much chuckling as it did cheering.

Final score: Nottingham Outlaws 46 v Bristol Sonics 20.
All told, I had a great afternoon.
Two very entertaining games at a bargain price and away in time to watch the Euro 2012 games on TV too ... result!