Salford City Reds 18 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 35

Oh dear, now I'm a great sales man (of that there can be no doubt) but still I have my bad days when I can't get a deal for the life of me. Sometimes you can blame it on bad luck eg. everyone I spoke to today was a thick wanker who just wasn't prepared to listen. Being honest, however, I know there are days when I'm just not on it, when for whatever reason my brain isn't working quick enough to handle objections or to catch a buying signal from someone & I only realise what I should have done when the moment has passed. I guess what I'm saying is that whatever we do for a living, we all have our bad days & of course RL players are not exempt from this. I can only hop & pray that what occurred on Friday night was a bad day at the office for most of our team because if not then we really are doomed.

Now for what it's worth I am bang on at my job at the moment, the sales are flying in & I'm already mentally spending the big pay cheque that I can look forward to in August as I type. So as I left the office on Friday with the praise of my colleagues & managers ringing in my ears, I was in particularly great form; it was Nic's birthday so I would have a few beers with her after watching Salford climb off the bottom of the table, then spend a lazy Saturday playing video games before a nice day out together on Sunday with a nice meal then back into work invigorated & ready to sell, sell, sell. I was chomping at the bit to see some rugby; I'd missed the Saints game of course & we'd then had a week off while the challenge cup rolled round. The Harlequins game the following week was then followed by an international break (and I didn't think Britain's 2nd string crushing France was worth taking a day off to go and see despite Hodgy & Coley being selected for GB) so I had eagerly anticipated last week's trip to Hull. Unfortunately the torrential rain which had played a backdrop to the Harlequins game had hung around & caused sever flooding in parts of Yorkshire (Hull included) & the police requested the game be postponed.

The week off provided us with some comfort on the Saturday when first Hull KR and then later Warrington were both beaten, Wakefield would ease themselves away from the danger zone by walloping Wigan on the Sunday but we were now only a point behind Hull KR (and 3 from Warrington) with a crucial game in hand. Light at the end of the tunnel indeed. As it was Nic's birthday I headed to the Con club pre-game but after 10 minutes of waiting and still being no nearer the bar, I called it a day & headed to the Church Hall where I joined another big queue for a beer, hmmph. Beer duly bought & downed very quickly I headed to the ground with Walshy & Solly (who was still moaning about the smoking ban that had come into effect on the previous Sunday).

The game really couldn't have started much worse we looked nervy & had a let-off almost straight away when a Jeffries kick early in the tackle count put the pacy Paul White clear only for him to lose the ball in the act of grounding. We were making far too many errors in our own territory for us to hold out much longer though & eventually Rooney went over but thankfully missed a fairly straightforward attempt to add the extras. When we finally did get in the opponents half, we took full advantage as Robbo threw an outrageous dummy which the Wakey cover queued up to buy while the little maestro raced over the line, Wilshere adding a fine goal.

Any hopes that that would kick-start us into life was quickly quashed as the visitors quickly established control and Jeffries kick on the last was spilled by Dorn to allow McGillivray to drop over the line & restore Wakey's lead. Worse was to follow, Obst chipped over the defence, Jeffries hacked it on & though beaten by Dorn in the foot-race to the line, the stand-off chose not to kick it dead but re-gather it only to fail to do so & allow Jeffries the easiest try of his career. By the time Atkins was put through for a try on the left, we were looking right down the barrel at 6-20. Thankfully on only our 3rd foray into the opposition 20, Hodgy stretched over & we were just about back in touch at 12-20 as the hooter limped out across the ground so feebly that the referee failed to hear it until the Wakefield players pointed it out.

The 2nd half was no better, we failed to deal with any of Wakefield's kick plays & perhaps more worryingly we failed to deal with deep kick-offs. Amazingly we got ourselves into the game for a 10 minute spell but with a penalty awarded in front of the sticks 12 metres out we inexplicably chose to kick for goal. 14-20 and we still needed to score twice to win the game, what the fuck was that about? Any advantage we may have gleaned was eroded when Rooney slotted a penalty of his own then another shortly after, 14-24. Another fumbled kick (this time by Hodgson) allowed Peter Fox to extend their lead further before a drop goal from Rooney eased them further away. Some shambolic defence allowed Atkins to cross again before we added some gloss to the scoreline with a late Finnigan effort. Luke Dorn's night was summed up late on as he tried to get a kick away under pressure only for it to come off his knee & travel about 4 yards (mainly sideways). Not a great night at all.

I went for a quick drink in the Con club post-game where we moaned about how comprehensively outplayed we'd been before heading back to meet my mates in the Tav. By now we were at least trying to look forward to next week's trip to Warrington where even if we lose the crucial 2 points on offer (which I'd wager will happen) we'll have a memorable day out. Even Mike's coming on the piss for this one!

Just before 11 I went back to the Con club & joined Nic & co for a few more beers. Struggling to get a taxi we headed back to Frank's flat to try & sort one out while we tucked into his beer & sandwiches. The night took its inevitable toll on Nic as she re-decorated the step outside Frank's back door & the taxi home probably provided some relief to her as she could fall into her bed. We now are relying on Huddersfield & Hull to do us favours on Sunday afternoon against Warrington & Hull KR respectively.