Hood: We'll battle back to dominate opposition

Feb 7 2010 by Nick Purewal, Sunday Sun

“I spoke to the players at the break and I talked about how it is easy to say the right things, but doing them is something completely different.

“And to their credit they stood up to the task of turning things around.

“They weren’t happy with their effort either, and they knew what needed to change really.

“But they managed to turn things around very well – they stood up to the physicality, they were competitive in the tackle and the collisions, and really got in Widnes’ faces in the rucks.

“We gave away a lot less penalties because of the improvements in play in the second half and that all told on the scoreboard.

“Widnes are a fantastic footballing side too, with quality right through their team, and they will be one of the most dangerous sides in the competition again this year.

“And now we have to repeat that second-half effort for the whole 80 minutes against Workington today.

“It’s another tough contest, but one we can do well in should we reach the standards we can attain.”

GATESHEAD THUNDER: Joe Brown, Robin Peers, Tom Wilson, Michael Brown, Richard Lopag, Kevin Neighbour, Liam Duffy, Tabua Cakacaka, Ryan Clarke, Chris Parker, Richie Humphreys, Stephen Welton, Matt Barron. Substitutes: Will Bate, Luke Watson, Johnny Scott, Mark Walker.