The Play-offs Part 2 - League 1 Semi Finals
Well no-one saw that coming did they??
Rochdale
Hornets turned the Play-offs on its head and defied the odds to snatch victory
in South West France becoming the first side to beat Toulouse on their own
patch all season. That stunning result
means Toulouse will join Barrow, Doncaster and York in the remaining games of
the season for that final spot the 2017 Championship.
Congratulations
to Rochdale for their impressive feat but that means the French side will
probably be even more overwhelming favourites to seal that second promotion
spot in the next couple of weeks.
What that
does to the three other teams still in contention is yet to be confirmed but it
now proves that York can head to France with absolutely nothing to lose in
Saturdays first Semi Final. Many will
presume Toulouse are still guaranteed promotion regardless but they certainly
won’t have it all their own way from here on in.
In the
other Semi Final Barrow face Doncaster at Craven Park on Sunday afternoon to
determine the second of next week’s finalists.
LEAGUE 1 PROMOTION PLAY-OFF SEMI FINAL – TOULOUSE
OLYMPIQUE vs YORK CITY KNIGHTS
(Stade des Minimes, Saturday, 24 September – 17:00pm CET)
The fact
that Toulouse have had to move this fixture to their old home ground of Stade
des Minimes says to many League 1 fans that they were not expecting to be
playing this late in the season. This
could play into York’s hands but with the French side finishing top, a full 17
points ahead of their fifth-placed opponents in the table, I can’t see anything
other than a French victory.
The jury
will be out on Toulouse this weekend as they won’t be able to let another
healthy early lead slip away like they did in the Promotion Final. Having been 16-0 up inside the first 20
minutes they may have taken their foot off the gas thinking it was already game
over and victory sealed. Sylvain Houles
will certainly be making his side pay in training this week in order for them
to be ready and up for playing for the full 80 minutes against York and get
this game won.
Having
been unbeaten in the league all season up to this crucial period that result
will hurt Toulouse but there should be no mistakes this weekend.
SUPER 8’s RESULTS:
Round 1 – Toulouse Olympique 40-4 Keighley Cougars
Round 2 – Toulouse Olympique 46-16 York City Knights
Round 4 – Doncaster RLFC 18-38 Toulouse Olympique
Round 5 – Toulouse Olympique 46-6 Rochdale Hornets
Round 3 – London Skolars 14-58 Toulouse Olympique (postponed to August Bank Holiday weekend)
Round 6 – Hunslet Hawks 12-16 Toulouse Olympique
Round 7 – Toulouse Olympique 44-22 Barrow Raiders
Promotion
Final – Toulouse Olympique 22-24 Rochdale Hornets
York City Knights
As is the
same for Toulouse having to change the venue for this game, York will have
fully expected to be travelling to Spotland this Sunday and will not have
appreciated having to arrange a last minute trip to France instead.
But James
Ford’s side will take heart from that result despite having a less than sufficient
Super 8’s campaign of just two victories from their seven matches (and only one
at home). Their one victory on the road
came in an excellent performance against Rochdale in Round 4 where they won by
20 points and their home win came in a comfortable 30-4 defeat of London
Skolars in Round 6.
Around
those they’ve suffered a mixed bag of defeats ranging from a deficit of just
eight points right up to 42. Despite
their indifferent Super 8’s form, and a heavy final round defeat to Keighley,
they still managed to secure their place in the Play-offs by finishing three
points ahead of the Cougars in fifth place.
SUPER 8’s RESULTS:
Round 1 – York City Knights 28-36 Doncaster RLFC
Round 2 – Toulouse Olympique 46-16 York City Knights
Round 3 –
York City Knights 6-20 Barrow Raiders
Round 4 –
Rochdale Hornets 16-36 York City Knights
Round 5 –
York City Knights 12-33 Hunslet Hawks
Round 6 –
York City Knights 30-4 London Skolars
Round 7 –
Keighley Cougars 50-8 York City Knights
MY PREDICTION – I got it very wrong last week but I
think there’ll be no mistakes this time around – Toulouse to win by 20+ points
LEAGUE 1 PROMOTION PLAY-OFF SEMI FINAL – BARROW
RAIDERS vs DONCASTER RLFC
(Craven Park, Sunday, 25 September – 15:30pm)
Despite
sitting outside the Play-offs with three regular season games to go the Raiders
won their final three matches ahead of the split to jump up to fifth in the
League 1 table.
That
superb form continued throughout the Super 8’s, starting with a demolition of
Rochdale in Round 1, playing with just 12 men for over half the match, right up
to a Round 6 win over Keighley which saw them climb up to second place in the
table, level on points with the Hornets but with a much higher points
difference.
Victories
became the norm, both at home and on the road for Paul Crarey’s players and they
were quietly tipped by some to beat first placed Toulouse in the final round of
the Super 8’s. That would have meant two
consecutive trips to France within a week as victory would have guaranteed them
the runners-up spot and a place in last week’s Promotion Final.
Instead
they had to settle for third place, as their nine game winning run came to an
end, and face a Semi Final against the team they blew aside 40-12 away from
home in Round 2. Having this game at
home in front of what will be a decent four figure crowd will suit Crarey’s Raiders.
SUPER 8’s RESULTS:
Round 1 –
Barrow Raiders 34-12 Rochdale Hornets
Round 2 –
Doncaster RLFC 12-40 Barrow Raiders
Round 3 –
York City Knights 6-20 Barrow Raiders
Round 4 –
Barrow Raiders 44-26 Hunslet Hawks
Round 5 –
London Skolars 4-54 Barrow Raiders
Round 6 –
Barrow Raiders 26-18 Keighley Cougars
Round 7 – Toulouse Olympique 44-22 Barrow Raiders
Doncaster RLFC
This will be the first trip to Cumbria for Gary
Thornton’s men this season as both previous games between these sides have been
on home turf at the Keepmoat. Despite
the heavy defeat to the Raiders in Round 2 of the Super 8’s Doncaster have
remained consistently inconsistent throughout the season and have rarely
strayed above or below third and fourth in the table all year.
Their Super 8’s form of WLWLWLW epitomises that and,
crucially, all three defeats in this section of the campaign came against the
three sides that finished above them.
They also seemed to struggle finishing teams off in the other half of
the group as well as no game was won by more than 12 points and they only
managed victories over Keighley and London by two and four points respectively,
and both of those teams finished outside the Play-offs.
Doncaster will have their work cut out this weekend
if they are to overcome Barrow on their own patch and progress to next week’s
Final. If they are at the very top of
their game and the Raiders have an off day they may just do it.
SUPER 8’s RESULTS:
Round 1 – York City Knights 28-36 Doncaster RLFC
Round 2 –
Doncaster RLFC 12-40 Barrow Raiders
Round 3 –
Hunslet Hawks 24-36 Doncaster RLFC
Round 4 – Doncaster RLFC 18-38 Toulouse Olympique
Round 5 – Doncaster RLFC 26-24 Keighley Cougars
Round 6 – Rochdale Hornets 38-22 Doncaster RLFC
Round 7 – Doncaster 34-30 London Skolars
MY PREDICTION – A tight game
in this one despite respective forms – Barrow to win by 6+ points
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