Official West Hartlepool RFC

It proves the win over Morley wasn't a flash in the pan.
Billingham probably weren't at full strength, but you can only play what's put out in front of you and the West lads really looked good.
Are we in for a good season, or should we not take too much notice of games like this?

Thanks for the game but dont get too carried away. It was pretty even up until half time when we brought on a load of lads for a run out and thats when you scored your points

Would like to say you played well and thats why i think ou will win N1E this year. I was only there for the 2nd half and from what i saw you looked strong and fast. i think Jordon if thats is name played really well as did a lot of the rest. Well done and good luck this season

Auld bill, you've embarressed yourelf with that post! West also changed their team on a regular basis and has people not playing for what ever reason whom would be incontentiom for a first team squad! I watched both games against Howells rfc and also west! The main difference was we were able to pressurise your back line in defence and not allow as much open running as westoe did! West also just about dominated the scrum and definately did the lineout! I think it highlights the need for strength in depth and not to be too relient on a handful of backs to win you games! Also noticed a few cheap shots from a few billingham players and west did not take the bait, mind you I wouldn't have fancied billingham chances if they did rise to it! Good look to west and billingham and stay classy Hartlepool!

I think NE1 must be a poor league for Billingham to have done so well last year. We played well but they were poor and are obviously a vastly over-rated side.

Typical west arrogance. Winning two home friendly games does not guarantee anything and you look too lightweight to do much when the pitches get heavier.

Poor argument AUld bill! As that would mean your team will also struggle on heavy pitches because our "lighter" team made short work of your "heavier" team! Also I would think that a "lighter" team would be better on a heavy pictch!

Don't know what your issue is Auld Bill but I don't think any of West's posts have said we'll win the league on our first two freindly's form (even though it's encouraging) although Billingham Oldgit seems to think we'll do well. To be honest it sounds as though you're already a little nervous about Billinghams form for the new season!

Another solid performance from West in all departments with some quality tries to boot! Well done Lads.

For what its worth.

We did not allow Billingham the time they had against Westoe and Chris Hyndman will need his players to start stepping up to the mark this season because the teams they are playing are obviously better.
A number of the Billingham players became intimidated by their lack of success in attack and that is something they need to deal with (Billingham have become used to teams falling apart in front of their tremendous attacking play but in the higher divisions this will not happen).
We were by far the better team, I just wish we had played like this last year.

We should be contenders for the league and I expect Bill to do well in their league also.

I thought our ball retention was tremendous and all the forwards played their part. The backs defended very well and applied pressure to make Bill look ordinary in the backs.
Personally I thought Gavinder Robinson was excellent in defence and Scott Jordan showed his ability in attack

I am looking forward to us getting better ball to the wingers as Adam Larkins try, in particular, shows what he can do with rubbish ball so just imagine what he can do with quality ball.

Well said chris. I can asure u that we are not taking these two friendly games for granted. But it'll give the younger lads confidence in there ability and I'm sure it'll show in our league games that we are more than capable

Another promising display. I see we have another friendly at home this weekend. Perhaps it might have given us a more realistic idea of how things are shaping up if we'd had an away game as well.

Good for bar takings though :-)
Will Darlo show up next week?

Of course they will. They got hammered at home by Hawick last week but thats understandable. Dont know how they got on against Guisborough last sat

What a funny lot Billingham are. All we did was beat them in a friendly, and some of them seem to want to make a big deal of it.
I wondered whether their team was near full strength, and it turns out it was and to say it was fairly even in the first half is inaccurate.
West are a MUCH better squad than last season, and while the Foreman bros are obviously great additions, it's not all down to them.

Who else has made it a better squad then DT? Players are probably just playing to the level they are capable of rather than a level below what they are capable of. I'd say give it 3-4 league games before we can say West are a MUCH better squad than last season. As I said previously Billingham are an over-rated side - they have never played at the level we played at last season.

Much better because young players like Adam Larkin, Liam Bailey, Scott Jordan have more experience (all those defeats last season must have had some benefits) and are available to play regularly - Jordan rarely played last season and Bailey wasn't old enough to play in the front row.
When you are a teenager, a year is a long time in rugby.
The forwards also look much stronger as a unit (and they weren't bad last season), Mossy is better at centre than stand-off, the backs' tackling is better, as is their penetration and there appears to be a much more positive outlook amongst the players.
Is that enough 1-15?

I admire your optimism - just don't get carried away they are only friendlies after all.

"West are a MUCH better squad than last season" is not getting carried away.
It's a fact, which many others have commented on.
However, I do plead guilty to being optimistic.

well done to west they were the better team start to finish put the back line under pressure and forced errors,slowed ball down for bill which give there back line crap ball,bill were not at full strength but like someone said you can only beat what is put infront of you,dont know why people like Auld Bill can get so carried away with a pre season games :-! we got beat end of story. I am sure bill will hold there own and have a good season and west will have a really good season and that will show in the first few games of the season.