End Of Season Poll Part One


Your choice

By Mark H
July 2 2006

It's been a long time coming, but here's part one of the End of Season Poll results, looking at the first eight questions posed.

Player of the Year (and why)

 

Matthew Burke 96.15%

Mike McCarthy 3.85%

 

Only two names featured, which surprised me somewhat as I was expecting three, but no more.  The winner, however, is no surprise - the outstanding player of the last two seasons, let alone one.

 

Matt Burke:

…for his solid, unflinching style of play; for being a calm head when necessary; for guiding the team to some solid victories and playing his heart out during several diabolical defeats. For being the most down-to-earth bloke you could ever hope to meet. For making Mrs Dr. B’s year when he signed his autobiography for her!

…most consistent performer and he's the reason why we've not been relegated

…He's been a different class to the rest of the XV all year. Without him we would be playing in Division 1 next season.

…fantastic player who has been an inspiration to the crowd if not all his fellow players.  He has made very few mistakes other than a few wayward kicks, he has created and scored some great tries, defended well, has all round ability and has been our best player by miles.  Thank God he is staying!!  If only the whole team had his attitude to the game we would be winning far more games.

…no more need be said

…God obviously led by example all season.

…No-one else came close.

…his influence has been so much greater than Charva's, his vision and intelligence are an example to everyone else and at times he has carried the team.

…I would dread to think where we would be right now without him.

...pure class 

Mike McCarthy:
…Player of the Year per minute spent on the pitch - McCarthy
 
 
Best Home Match (and why)

Sale (league) 53.85%

Leicester 30.77%

Wasps, Leeds 7.69%

 

Considering that it was Falcons' first five point haul of the season, it was over the champions elect and it was entirely unexpected, no shocks again.  It's worth noting though that all four of the matches voted for were against, for one reason or another, weakened opposition.

 

Sale:

…beating the league leaders comfortably and for the look of euphoria on Tom May’s face when he scored his try past Jason Robinson.

…I wasn't there but it was our first 5 pointer and by all accounts our best home performance of the season

…tremendous second half with some awesome attacking rugby played.  First half still a bit dodgy though!

…Sale second half - I'd forgotten how good Wilko is and that Jonny Williams - cracking performance!

…The lads delivered when the chips were down.

...It gave both the club and us supporters a much-needed lift, and proved the team can be as good as the top when they try.

…shows when we play free flowing rugby that we can beat the best.

 

Leicester:

…Beating Leicester at home in front of a sold out Kingston Park was quite special

…couldn't have asked for a better birthday present, us beating Tiggers at home in front of a sell out crowd, and we actually seemed to play as a team for more than 10 mins of a game.

…We looked like the better team thoughout the match. Great stuff.

 

Wasps:

…just for the relief of getting that first home win, especially against the Champions

 

Leeds:

…Given that only 2 out of the 5 home matches I have been to ended in a win (and I don’t remember much about the Worcester game !)   I would have to go for Leeds, okay Leeds didn’t put up much of a fight until the second half, but it was nice to see us actually playing flowing rugby and not just hoofing the ball up the pitch.

 

Worst Home Match (and why)

 

London Irish (ECC) 47.69%

Bristol 40.00%

Northampton 9.23%

Bath, London Irish (league) 1.54%

 

As it was the highest profile match of the season, and therefore the highest profile flop, the ECC semi-final was not a shock choice - nor was the first home game of the season against Bristol, which laid the foundation for what was to come.

 

London Irish (ECC):

…although we nearly pulled off an amazing comeback the first 70 was utter garbage.

…so much expectation and such a let-down, and then in the last ten minutes we saw that we could actually have won.

…spineless for 70 minutes, an embarrassment

…So many to chose from!  Bristol just because for all the glitz of the first home game we failed to turn up.  Bath (especially second half) or Saints because we were just comprehensively outplayed by teams near us in the league.  Gloucester because if they are one of the best teams in the league then I'm a Dutchman (and I'm not!).  But the most annoyed I have been after a match was the ECC semi against London Irish because the first 70 minutes has to be the amongst worst I have ever seen.  Sloppy passing, poor teamwork and errors a schoolboy would be ashamed of become even more glaring after we proved how good we can actually be by dominating the final 10 minutes and nearly pulling off the comeback of the century.  I wish we could have won it but we wouldn't have deserved it.

...LI losing in the European cup, why oh why not turn up til 70 mins in.

 

 

Bristol:

…If you can't beat an mid-table side at home in your first match of the season, you're unlikely to be go anywhere. And so it proved.

...I was never expecting Bristol to do badly in their return to the premiership, but I was never expecting them to beat us in our first home game of the season.

…Just pathetic and a real wet blanket for the first home game of the season.

…for losing a match early in the season that we should have won and for the atmosphere in the South Stand afterwards.

…The very first home game where all the hope for the new season was crushed with that dismal performance against Bristol. We didn't get much better for the rest of the season to be honest.

 

Northampton:

…Going by what my parents said, Northampton. It's rare they leave early, but they did then.

 

Bath, Bristol, LI, Saints, and LI in semi - as the majority of the team didn't bother showing up.

 

 

Best Away Match (and why)

 

Northampton 34.62%

Leicester 19.23%

Brive, Leeds 11.54%

Didn't attend any, Gloucester 7.69%

London Irish, Bath 3.85%

 

A first win in eight season at Franklin's Gardens, and a virtuoso display from Dave Walder, saw the Saints game in September clearly in front.

 

Northampton:

…a brilliant performance from Davey Walder, it renewed hope that the season could be a success.

…can’ decide between Northampton and Tigers. Saints as showed after losing to Bristol there was still hope and Davey had the game of his life and Tigers as we were expected to lose and to draw and should have won showed we had some spirit, and to then go back to Loughborough and see no Tigers shirts for a few days was awesome.

…Arguably Walder’s last great performance for the Falcons.

…Northampton was fantastic, a mixture of grit and skill.

…Once again can’t remember much about the game, except the fact that we actually won after playing so dire against Bristol, but the players afterwards were amazing.

 

Leeds:

…it’s the only one I managed to get to! The sight of Spud getting the better of Biggs for his try made my day.

 

Didn't attend any this season

…I haven't been to any this season but from match reports I would say either Irish for grinding out an important win or Brive in the ECC to qualify as 2nd seeds.

 

Gloucester:

…love the place, a Wilko try and standing watching 1st half someone behind me starts picking on Luke Gross ("a henchman in a Bond movie") I turn around and berate the Glaws fan only to realise half way thro' my defence of Gross it's Mike Tindall I'm talking to.... (wondered why he looked familiar!)

 

Bath/Leeds:

…Of those I went to, Leeds or Bath. Bath for personal reasons, Leeds also personal - I like the atmosphere of the post-Christmas derby, and Matt Burke's conversion straight into the sunset was one of the best I've ever almost seen.

Brive:

…I can't remember feeling so proud of the team. Each forward in turn was prepared to take a real hammering in the last five minutes, picking and driving, to run down the clock.

 

Leicester:

…we defended like madmen and it feels good when you know you have beaten the Cheatahs even if some blind touchjudge sees otherwise.

 

 

Best Falcons Try (and why)

 

Ben Woods v London Irish (ECC) 3/13

Matt Burke v Saracens (A) 2/13

Burke v Worcester (H), Anthony Elliott v Llanelli (A) 1.5/13

Elliott v Saracens (H) and v Sale (H), Burke v Brive (H), Jonny Wilkinson v Gloucester (A), No idea 1/13

 

Ben Woods' effort, created by Mike McCarthy and which started the eventually fruitless comeback, steals the honours from Matt Burke and Anthony Elliott, who seemed to specialise in great tries.

 

...Elliot’s try against Saracens at KP; a great finish after a sublime break in midfield from Spud.

 

...Woods v Oirish - great break by the backrow lads

...Woods v LI - excellent back row try

...I liked our try against Llanelli Scarlets where Wilkinson but in the cross field kick for Elliott, who then stepped the full back and raced away. A personal one for me since I was watching the game at Stradey with Scarlet supporting family members.

 

...Burke against Brive - awesome kick from Jonny, great pace from May and Burke split the defence

 

...Wilko at Glaws for novelty value.

 

...Burke at Sarries. Only realised how good it was when I saw it later on video. OR Elliott at Scarlets. A classic.

...Burke v Sarries away - the kick and catch down the wing.

...Matt Burke vs. Saracens (A) and Matt Burke vs. Wuss (H) Both just outstanding tries which only he could pull off.

 

...Burke v Worcester at home, everything Burke is about: pace, intelligence and great reading of the game

 

...Haven’t got a clue on this one, most of the time we end up scoring I seem to be at the bar (perhaps I should stay there next season).

...Elliot against Sale, the one where he went pretty much the length (and breadth) of the pitch.
Best Try scored against Falcons (and why)

Too many to choose, Can't bear to pick one 30.77%

Carlos Spencer (Saints at KP) 15.38%

All blurred into one, Andre Snyman (Leeds A), All of Northampton's tries 7.69%

 

We weren't too happy at the number of tries conceded, were we?

 

...In the loss to Northampton (H) all of their tries were brilliant.

…one of Northampton's ones up here involving Spencer.

...Carlos for Saints.

 

...I've blanked most of them from my mind. There are quite a few holes in my memory.

 

...Unfortunately I happened to see all of them.

 

...Can’t think of a single one that stands out. Presumably since I just close my eyes and pray when any team gets inside our 22. If pushed, I’ll go for Snyman’s try against us at Headingley on 27th December – a great cross-field move culminating in a powerful run for the line.

 

…there were too many to choose from

…too many to decide

 

…Can't bear to pick one as too many have been from our mistakes rather than great opposing play.

 

…my sub-conscious has probably erased it.

 

 

Best Opponents

 

London Irish 61.54%

Northampton 15.38%

Gloucester, Borders, None 7.69%

 

As they won twice at KP, Irish shouldn't be a surprise choice - certainly after the battering they gave us in the ECC.

 

London Irish:

…Oirish for showing us how to play some running rugby.

…great team, emerging as real challengers for top spot, exciting 15 man rugby

…showed us what a bit of determination does for a team

…Irish, they outplayed us twice at home and gave us a good go in Reading too.

…I think going from 10th in the league last season to 3rd this says it all.

…They've been outstanding this season, even though it pains me to say it.

 

Northampton:

…Saints. Carlos.

…they completely thrashed us and the score-line flattered us.

 

Gloucester:

…Gloucester impressed me when they beat us at KP. Close scoreline but there was only one team in control.

 

...I honestly don't believe there is any team in the Premiership who we should be afraid of or any that have stood out enough for me to say 'WOW they were good'

 

Borders:

...Semo Setiti for true sportsmanship stopping play when one of our lads was hurt.

 

 

Worst Opponents (and why)

 

L'Aquila 53.85%

Leicester 15.38%

Bristol, Leeds, Saracens, Ourselves 7.69%

 

14 points for, 176 points against - the Italians were the low point opposition this season.

 

L'Aquila:

…Not only did the players not turn up but I would like to know where their fans were at their home game.

…But Glos were a close second for the small minority of abusive fans they seem to attract to KP.

…L'Aquila weren't great were they?

…L’Aquila, enough said

…L’Aquila, need I say more

 

Saracens:

...In terms of who played worst, not sure.  In terms of the not-nicest, Saracens - both matches, but the home one where they were aided by the ref particularly sticks in my head.  The game was not as close as the score suggested.

 

Bristol:

…Even their fans felt sorry for us.

 

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