Yet again on Sunday reds fans walked away from the match feeling a little let down. After our initial performance against Rochdale we’ve failed to hit that level again. Against a decent Oldham team we struggled in attack, most of our tries/decent attacking chances came of the back of penalties. Again on Sunday in the derby, at times, looked lost in attack, so much so that I heard people saying the team looked like they hadn’t met each other before never mind trained or played. I know it’s early in what will be a long season, and yes we’ve not conceded more that 2 tries in any game yet, whilst scoring 26 tries in total of our own and having a positive points difference of 110 already. We just appear to be taking things a little easy and maybe underestimating our opposition. I know it’s not fair on the boys to expect 80 minutes without mistakes or little things going wrong but we’ve got plenty to work on before we meet Leigh in March. I’m sure Shaun and the coaching staff will have the matter in hand and the boys will be paying for their mistakes in training this week.

This Friday sees us travel to Oldham, who just a fortnight ago gave us a good test at the Willows. Although the score didn’t reflect that fact, Oldham did show enough to think that Friday will be our biggest test yet. With plenty of Super League experience in their ranks (and a few ex-Reds) they’ll see this as a chance to catch us below par. The loss of Jiminez (Strange as it was) sets us another issue in the centres but Jordan Turner proved that he could fill that gap with ease with his hat-trick on Sunday.

Sorry if I sound negative, I don’t mean to be, I’d just like to see us show our class for longer periods in the game. As for Sunday, wasn’t it great to have the derby back (If only for a couple of matches) another great turn out by reds fans contributing to a crowd of 1,661, which we’re led to believe is Swinton’s biggest ever crowd at Park Lane. Following on from the amazing 4,224 at the Oldham game things are looking up. And of course I can’t end without mentioning the Stadium, what a timely boost for us the fans, the players, the staff and board and of course John Wilkinson OBE.

I’ll admit I was waning at one point as to it happening but I am more than happy to slap myself around the head for doubting it for even one second.

Right I’m off to find a spade to help with the digging, see you all Friday.

Salford City Reds and Salford Community Leisure combine for Rugby in the Park

Salford City Reds have recently joined forces with Salford Community Leisure to offer children a range of activities throughout the half-term break. Children from Holy Cross and All Saints, St Patricks, St Gilberts, St Marys and Ambrose Barlow took part in a number of different sporting activities, emphasising the versatility of the Reds community staff. All activities were based at Winton Park in Eccles, a Safer Stronger Communities highlighted area. Seb Rowe, Community Development Officer for the Reds said “These activities provide children with an opportunity to have fun and get some good exercise during the school break. We have not only played rugby but also football, basketball, cricket and many other sports. It has been great to see so many children get involved, the good weather has certainly helped.” On the final day, all children who took part received a Golden Angels reward and free match day family tickets for attendance and behaviour. Over the next week the reds community staff will appear at a number of venues around Salford educating children in rugby. For more information contact Seb on 07921 078 103

Salford City Reds today officially launches its new club blog, a new service that will give staff and players the opportunity to post articles on a regular basis, that will also be used as a method of providing extra newsworthy content for the Reds website.

Blogging is seen as a major part of the future of the internet and the club hope to tune into this technology to enable them to interact with their fans more efficiently.

Reds Marketing Manager, Paul McNally said “We see the blogs as an important part of the natural evolution of Reds.co.uk.  The system we have in place is world class and it allows two way communication between the club and its most important asset – its supporters.”

With the National media now using blogging as an innovative marketing tool the Reds have now shown that they are once again at the forefront of online technology.

McNally Continued  “Fans can apply to become bloggers.  What we are looking for are people with interesting observations about the club, be they from the modern era or stretching back into the past.  We want the blogs to become an interactive record of our hundred plus years at the Willows on the cusp of a new era.”

Now available from the Club Shop, priced 1.50.

The ones available now are the ’strip’ kind, with larger A5 sized stickers to follow very soon indeed.

We have now sold out of concession tickets for Sunday and will not be receiving a second allocation - this means Students and Seniors will now have to pay on the day, or pay the extra for an adult ticket.

A limited (and dwindling) number of adult tickets remain priced at 12.50, as well as a small number of junior tickets priced at 2.00. As stated earlier, we expect to sell out of all categories before the cutoff on Saturday.

If you do decide to pay on the day make sure you get there early.

We have now received a (very) limited number of seated tickets for the game on Sunday. These are priced as follows:

Adults 14.50

Concessions 8.50

Juniors 4.00

Junior Season Ticket Holders can transfer on the day for 2 pounds, but please be aware that the seating stand is very small and spaces are limited.

Once again we would like to stress our recommendation to pre-purchase a ticket AND get down to Sedgeley Park as early as possible. Tickets continue to sell well and we expect to sell out our initial allocation some time either late tomorrow or early Friday. We have spoken to Swinton about the possibility of taking a second allocation, but there are no guarantees we will be able to get one for logistical reasons.

We need to point out that the game is NOT ticket only, but significant congestion is expected if fans do not take the advice and pre-buy their tickets if at all possible.

Well, tonight (Wednesday) sees the third broadcast of our new radio show on Salford City Radio 94.4 FM (or the net at www.salfordcityradio.org).

So far I think it’s going alright. The second show was a gazillion times better than the first but due to a problem with net streaming for the station I think fewer people probably heard it than they should.

We’ve moved to rectify this kind of thing and negotiated with the guys at the station that the show will be replayed on a Friday between 6-7pm, which is a good time for us because it’s either when we are not playing, or at a time when you are probably getting ready to go to the match if we’re at home.

We’ve recruited Mr Parkin to be on every week for his punditry from a fans perspective and I’m very, very pleased about that.

Please do get involved though, email in during the week to me at paul.mcnally@reds.co.uk or when we are on air to studio@salfordcityreds.org

You can also text in, just listen to the show for details of the number etc.

Wednesday’s special guest should be testimonial boy Paul Highton so it should be worth a listen.

Tune in and let us know what you think.