Thanks Guys, Good season.

[pip14]

[lovesthehardground]

Excellent improvement this year. We won games that we would have lost last year. We are more solid up front and have an attacking flair in the backs which is really exciting to watch. We know how to win away from home and reached the HC & ML Knock outs. Well Done Boys.

Next year - we must continue to improve. Thats vital! Up the fitness levels a bit and look to improve the small things. Be more patient in attack and defence, but ensure we score points in every visit to the red zone. Make sure we get losing BPs in the games we lose (look at where its got the Ospreys to this year). Lets develop a bit of grunt up front - a bit of devilment for when we need it.

Generally if every player tries to improve their own game by 5-10% we will be a cracking team next year. Looking at who's going and who's coming in I think we look stronger on paper next year. So if we can just up the ante again I think we could be in for another great season.

Well Done Boys and Thank You for a great year's craic.

[promsandwich]

Just wanted to post that I suggested at the start of the season that HEC quarter final and ML play offs would be a successful season.

What does next year bring Mystic Peg??!!

[againstthehead]

A very good season - certainly results wise. We need to lift the level of performance several notches but we're getting there. Thought Humph has had a terrific season. He's worked hard on his place kicking and it has made the difference - along with Ruan of course.

The big thing to take from this season, is the importance of getting home quarter finals and semi-finals. At this level, it's desparately difficult to win away from home. Every point in the magners is crucial. However, we can't complain the way the results went this season...

[The Boo Radleys]

Bus No.1 stopped (again....) at the Service Area outside Dundalk on the way home last night and in popped Ruan, Johann and BJ. No-one could say that Johann and Ruan didn't gave it all for the cause again last night as they have done all season.

There have been some terrific nights and days at Ravers this year and heart attack city watching S4C on the televison in between.

It was great to see the guys come down and acknowledge the fans especially in the North Stand last night - bar a few clinically depressed individuals, everyone appreciated their effort in Dublin and up and down the rugby grounds of Ireland and beyond this season.

We are not the finished article but we are certainly going the right way. The feeling for next season is one of hope and anticipation rather than fear of humiliation against teams who used to beat us.

Thanks to all the squad, enjoy the summer and roll on next season.

SUFTU

[promsandwich]

LastKnightoftheproms » Sat May 14, 2011 10:48 am

promsandwich wrote:
Just wanted to post that I suggested at the start of the season that HEC quarter final and ML play offs would be a successful season.


What does next year bring Mystic Peg??!!


HEC home quarter and ML home semi, of course.

[Rooster]

HEC home quarter and ML home semi, minimum aim for next year, a final in both would be great though
Piper should be made full time squad member for home and away trips as well

[promsandwich]

Piper should be made full time squad member for home and away trips as well

+1

[Snipe Watson]

Just wanted to post that I suggested at the start of the season that HEC quarter final and ML play offs would be a successful season.

What does next year bring Mystic Peg??!!

HEC home quarter and ML home semi, of course.

That should be the target, but I would also like to see more clinical performances. We rode our luck at times this season and dodged a few bullets. I would like to see us closing out games in the last 15 not hanging on and stealing games at the death.

If we play better next season with more rounded performances and still didn't get a home QF and/or a home SF. We would not be standing still or moving backwards and the season would not be disappointment.

I’d be happy with another away QF and an away SF if the general play was more polished.

[promsandwich]

Agreed that consistency of performance is the next step that we need to take. We are still a young team and having played in the QF of the HEC and SF of the ML this year our players should become accustomed to the nerves and intensity of such occasions. Next year in the same position our boys should therefore be more relaxed and able to focus and therefore one would hope that a consistently higher standard of performance will be achieved.

[bootlaced]

Thanks to alll the guys who put the shirt on.Good luck to all the Ulster players moving on to other clubs.Thanks also to the URSC, also thanks to the forum administration for providing this message board.Thanks to all the posters for their information and opnions,and hopefully will see you all next season.

[Lurgan Lad]

Thanks to alll the guys who put the shirt on.Good luck to all the Ulster players moving on to other clubs.Thanks also to the URSC, also thanks to the forum administration for providing this message board.Thanks to all the posters for their information and opnions,and hopefully will see you all next season.

Agree thanks to everyone, including the BBC for their coverage. Was a season of huge progress both on and off the pitch and from Shane Logan down well done.

[Bart S]

[:

That should be the target, but I would also like to see more clinical performances. We rode our luck at times this season and dodged a few bullets. I would like to see us closing out games in the last 15 not hanging on and stealing games at the death.

If we play better next season with more rounded performances and still didn't get a home QF and/or a home SF. We would not be standing still or moving backwards and the season would not be disappointment.

I’d be happy with another away QF and an away SF if the general play was more polished.[/quote]

Interesting post their Snipe. Probably the biggest plus for me of the season was our ability to close out tight games with victories and in the Heiny, our ability to come back and win after 2 sloppy starts against Bath. The away game where we gave away a try very early was a game that every year for the past decade we would have lost if we had started like that. In the Magners we came back from 7 points down against Glasgow with 13 minutes left and having just been reduced to 14 men. Those were 2 games we would never have won before and typified the stronger mental belief in the team.

Conversely I am a bit concerned that over half (I think) of our 20 odd wins last season were by 7 points or less and from what I remember, most of them were real squeaky bum time. We did ride our luck a fair bit and who's to say how things may have gone without that. I think we only had 2 losing BP's all season, against Edinburgh early on and the Ospreys where we lost by a point. Most of our other defeats were pretty comprehensive in reality.

If we want to aim for a home Heiny QF then we really must learn to (i) gain a losing BP in our defeat or at least prevent the opposition gaining a winning BP, as we let BO do this season; (ii) start looking at home games a potential 5 pointers. Leinster are masters of topping a group comfortably despite winning 5 or sometimes even 4 games. It doesn't matter who the opposition are they look for the winning BP at home which over 3 games is almost as good as an extra win.

Our execution on several occasions this season was poor and we rarely looked like a team capable of creating tries on numerous occasions. It's telling that everyone harks back to a ML game during the international period in Cardiff as an example of backline play, rather than a more meaningful encounter.

It has been a good season and there's no doubt that the battle hardened Boks have helped bring more steel to this Ulster side but like Snipe, I'd like to see some better performances over 80 minutes next season as as sign of real development even if ultimately we only reach the same stages of these competitions.

ps. Does anyone else think we're really good at battling against the wind in matches but not that good of taking advantage of it??

[Snipe Watson]

Conversely I am a bit concerned that over half (I think) of our 20 odd wins last season were by 7 points or less and from what I remember, most of them were real squeaky bum time.

In most of those games we should not have been in that position and we won 3 in red time.
The results should have been wrapped up with us closing out the game in the last 15 not chasing like we were.
Put the thing to bed in the first 65 and stick the ball up the jumper. That's what I call closing the game out. What you are calling closing the game out,I call hanging on.

[Bring Humph On!!]

I think you are both actually agreeing. I think I'm right in saying that the team had set their goals at the start of the season and have achieved them. That will build confidence. I think we have witnesses some very good rugby this season and I think it shows how much we have improved that we are actually complaining about winning matches in the final minutes rather than just being pleased about winning matches!!

Looking forward to next season, I would like to see us do 2 things-

1. be more clinical in the oppostion 22. Too many times this season we have appeared impatient or nervous when in a position where we are looking odds on to cross the opposition line. If this comes then we should be winning more games, with more bonus points and be in a position to rest our big players in the last 20.

2. put in a couple of big performances against Leinster & Munster. I don't think they fear us yet and that irks me, albeit we haven't given them a reason to fear us yet in the meetings we've had.

Onwards and upwards!! SUFTUM