Supporters

Oddshaped balls
As I am prepared to dish out the stick with the best/worst of them when it comes to referees I ought to offer praise where it's due. I thought Spreaders had a really good game yesterday (one of my neighbours pointed out that he missed the running commentary of how the game should have been refereed) and seemed to have all the players onside both figuratively and legally.

Howlin
Agreed. Spreadbury is one of my favourite referees (although some players must be tempted to deck him as he grins incessantly whist penalising them!) Didn't think he had one of his best games yesterday but he is streets ahead of those petulant posers slander and off-white, letting the game flow wherever possible rather than constant whistle blowing and posturing

Dropgoal
Agreed (as well). Spreadbury allowed the game to flow and made it very enjoyable for the spectators. A few decisions I didn't understand but after my previous comments on the semi-final, I am guessing that the ref was right. Spreadbury definitely wins my ref of the season vote.

Wellsaint
I had my doubts when I heard Spreadbury was coming back but he is still a class act. Second best referee probably Dave Pearson; the worst easily Slander, closely followed by Barnyard. Both are even worse than Father Ted. Wellsaints' worst of all time is Clayton Thomas - I'm thinking back to the Leinster game in the 00/01 season - what do you have to do to get a penalty try out of the man? Two Leinster players in the sin-bin, three mins into injury time at the end of the game, six points down!! He also robbed Stade Francais against the PCP in the same compy (and before you ask what I was doing at Wellbad Road, it was shopping with the then girlfriend or rugby. I chose the cheaper and less tiring option...)

Ballagher
Disagree BIG time. The only reason he lets the game flow is because he misses so much he hasn't any idea what's happened. He must have missed a dozen knock-ons yesterday. He totally forgot about pulling down of mauls (until he produced his yellow). He had a strange notion of straight in the lineout and the amount of time he felt was allowed to "immediately" place the ball when going to ground was laughable. Not biased - didn't affect the result - but a poor game for Spreaders IMO.

Gazmo
According to the 20 falcon fans behind me he was the worst ref of all time. Mind you, I think they had their own rulebook, which bore no relationship to Rugby union

Ben Dover
Yep definitely one of the better referees, He let the little knock for knocks go which made for a more fluent game. When insignificant things happened he ignored them which made for a much more enjoyable game. The bad and obvious offences he penalised (with the exception of Budge getting thumped which appeared to happen right in front of him) and yes we were guilty of quite a few offences ourselves believe it or not! He reminds me a little bit of Fred Howard one of my personal favourites who always tried to let the game flow.

West Midlands Saint
The disconcerting thing about Spreaders is the way he puts his whistle to his lips as if he is about to blow and then - decides against it. I like to see a game flow but one such case in point yesterday was when Stephenson was tackled and was turned - he then managed to get himself on top of the ball and blatantly killed it. Spreaders, whistle to mouth, let play go on with Falcons gaining the advantage. He had obviously seen what happened and fortunately, on that occasion, no points were scored. Think again: LI v Sale. LI scored their fourth try and gained two bonus points in the 8th minute of injury time having been told that there should have been only 2. Sorry, he enjoys himself too much and cost us a home tie and a definite place in Europe. No, he is not a good referee.

Ben Dover
WMS you can't blame our place in Europe on one single incident in a game that didn't involve us. If we had been clever enough to win more games and gain more bonus points than the opposition then the way he refereed a game would be irrelevant to the outcome of the season. I think we have to look a little bit closer to home to find out why we didn't end up in the top four. To suggest it was one single incident in a whole season is more than a little bit naive. It always amuses me that referees come in for so much stick. When we have 15 guys out there on the pitch, which has more influence on the outcome of the match? The referee or us?

Ballagher
You're right Ben to suggest wed shouldn't blame the ref for results, far less league positions. But the start of this thread is saying Spreadbury had a good game and is a good ref. I would imagine he would regard that game as not one of his best. (At least I hope he would.) Then again, I'm beginning to think Mark and me go to a different ground to everyone else here. I still haven't summoned up the nerve to tell you what I thought of Tom Smith's performance.

Biggy Saint
Excellent reception from the South Stand when Lammy was warming up and a real pleasure to have attention drawn to his and Inga's last premiership league game by Geoff Allen on the pa system. This was very sporting towards the away team and what Saints supporters have always expected especially with Lammy's past leadership of the team.
Strange then that there was nothing similar for Ollie in his last league match. Nothing here to give the Franklin's faithful to cheer and acknowledge. A missed chance to give appreciation to a player whose stature has grown over the past couple of seasons. Or did I just miss an announcement before taking my place on the terrace? The mis-spelling of his name on the electronic scoreboard also sent a strange message. Anyone else think that this was a public relations cockup to our own valued player whose playing ability has got better and better, or is it a case of sour grapes? I hope not!

St Broon
I don't know about all that but I spoke with him after and he is an absolutely delightful, civilized modest guy he spent so long getting off the pitch from his signing session, but his patience and courtesy were endless. Maybe he might come back for a year after the rwc? I presume he'll retire from internationals then?

Howlin
Good morning all...I have just woken up but unfortunately I have been at work for four hours. Can't get used to Sunday rugby I need a day to recover.
Thought sideshow had a great game (photo in programme just like your pic Chris)

did anyone else notice two possibly prophetic notes from uncle Keith in the prog yesterday? !" I promise you better next year even if the team has to undergo the same process as the main stand" and words to the effect that lets see how well we do next year with Wayne here for the whole season. We both feel passionate about giving the supporters what they deserve (notable by the absence of any mention of Tinman). Exciting times ahead

St. Bart
Right from the start when he took a mighty clattering from Mower after Wilko's huge kick, Smokin' Joe looked to be really up for the game.
Mower never looked comfortable himself after that hit but Joe just kept coming forward and never looked in any trouble under the high ball. Much as I appreciate many of Bealers performances at 15 this season, Smokin Joe makes the future look bright, and could secure the position for himself.
We still need a real flyer on the wing for next season though. Is Dan Scarborough available?

BrianB
With competition at f/back there's then also competition on the wing with Beal switching there. So when Stewart, Wally & Ben go off at half time we hardly bat an eyelid.

St. Broon
I’ve been more and more impressed with Dan Richmond each time I’ve seen him, but his performance yesterday was international calibre.

He made a defensive throw to jp on our 22 when budgies had vyvyan held up at full height for ages in front of jp- so Dan adjusts, bobs down and up and lobs it in a gentle curve over the guy and drops it into jp's mitts. Absolute nerves of steel.


Apart from that, he was awesome on the pick and drive, combining brilliantly with wee tom, and his tackling is brutal. We also improve our maul when he comes on, as his body position is so good and he is exceptionally strong in the legs

with the rwc next year I don't think we will see any current test players from the sanzar countries being available to English clubs next season, so if we're looking for some improvements, some sort of swap deal involving Wally might be a way of upgrading the squad .I don't understand why it should be (except possibly his basics are better), but ever since Wayne gave Dan the chance to compete for a place, he has grown in stature each week, while to be honest, Wally has done the opposite . We can't go on forever moaning about our lineout but refusing to do anything about it

this would be a very hard decision for any of us to take in an emotional sense, but Wayne has shown he's a very cool guy able to take hard decisions.

Brian B
Agree with your comments about Richmond and about Wally but to get rid of him (albeit by swapping)? Cor, you’re brave!
Saints in the past have been reluctant to give the youngsters experience but it's paying off, particularly with Richmond but also Morris - and Tucker had a reasonable game yesterday - oh and Soden had another good one - and Brookes played okay.
A couple of supporters near me were raving about Sideshow Bob all game - and why not? He had a good one too!
The future looks bright; the future looks black, gold & green.

Maverick
Was part of the Falcons game plan to hit Jorgy hard from the off?
To be honest, I was surprised he played at all after the Bris game, but he took 2(3?) great gersplattering hits in the first 10/15 minutes and it seemed only a matter of time before he had to leave the field.

Steve 393
Possibly. I suspect Budge was targeted as well. We were a bit unlucky with our injuries yesterday, Jorgy, Budge & Cohen, and it upset the pattern I thought. Open side is a position that needs cover next year because Andy B doesn't look that comfortable there.

Chris
When that nice retiring Mr Inga bloke hit John Leslie I didn't think he was going to get up for week but Pasky applied the magic sponge and a minute later JL haul Tuigamala up right on the line.
But tackle of the day has to go to Larry when he took out their open side. That Sanatogens doing him good!

St Broon
Larry pulled a classic on Tuigamala in front of the Tetley’s - a sort of "I haven't tackled this guy in 10 years and I’m not going to start now" effort, but generally his tackling's been an absolute road to Damascus job this year

Well Saint
We made it... just, but....
Will someone please explain the mentality when we are 2 points ahead and receive a penalty in the opposition's 22, in trying to score a third (not a fourth try) when three more points would be of more use? Was I the only person in the ground who failed to see the logic? Yes... we got away with it and won the game. But surely better to try and safeguard the 4 points than try for an improbable fifth. If we had conceded a penalty and lost by one point it could have been curtains for any chance of Euro rugby next season.
Next stop the Mad Jet Ski - do I need a visa for South Africa?

Ben Dover
Worse still can somebody explain why when we had a 5 to 2 overlap in the first half did the ball carrier decide to cut back inside rather than pass the ball to the players queuing up outside. It will take me a little while to forgive you Mr Dawson for that little gem, but a win at LI might go someway I guess.

Brian B
Did you notice the lack of something all game? Yes, no flapping from Binks and he played the better for it!

St. Broon
Keeping them down there allowed us to hammer their forwards while they had a man in the bin. They never recovered and were shot by the last quarter. If we took (hopefully) the 3 points we would have been back in our half defending against the deadly combination of Spreadbury and Wilkinson - an ugly prospect

Geordie Fatboy
Just to say thank you for a great day out. I always look forward to coming to Franklins Gardens we are always assured of a friendly welcome. Love your new stadium - can't wait to see it finished. Pity about Spreadbury - still never mind there's always next season. Good luck in the play-offs.


Professionals

Wayne Smith in the chron
“We have done as much as we can in the last two months. We knew we had to keep winning and we have done that.”
And he admitted: “I am elated about finishing fifth.”

Terry Morris – Chronicle and Echo
“a real bruiser of an emotion-charged Zurich Premiership clash at Franklin’s Gardens”