MATCH INFORMATION
NEWCASTLE THUNDER v KEIGHLEY COUGARS - 1895 CUP ROUND ONE
SATURDAY 4TH MAY - 2:30PM KICK OFF
KINGSTON PARK - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE - NE13 8AF
REFEREE - MR TOM CRASHLEY (CASTLEFORD)
ADMISSION:
ADULT - £10
JUNIORS - £5
TICKETS CAN BE BOUGHT BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/newcastle-falcons/EDP/Event/Index/1470
LINNERS: "CUP GIVES A CHANCE TO FRINGE PLAYERS"
CRAIG Lingard says there are fringe benefits to his side breaking their red-hot league run in favour of cup action.
Cougars are set to be struck by Thunder twice in the next three weeks, starting this weekend.
Cougars take a break from Betfred League One action when they travel to face Newcastle Thunder on Saturday (2.30pm kick-off) in the first round of the inaugural 1895 Cup.
This is the first half of a double header against the North East club, with a league fixture against Thunder following on Sunday, May 19. In between Lingard's men will enjoy a blank weekend due to the Challenge Cup sixth round.
The 1895 Cup will be played between League One and Championship teams. Round two will introduce the 12 English teams from the Championship. The quarter-finals and semi-finals will follow in June an July with the final to be played at Wembley Stadium on August 24, the day of the Challenge Cup final.
Lingard is set to give his fringe players a chance to step out of the shadows for in-form Cougars' cup clash this weekend.
Cougars warmed up for the cup tie with a 32-26 victory over Workington Town at Cougar Park last Sunday. It was Cougars' fourth-successive league victory and puts them onto -1 as they have almost eradicated their -12-point pre-season punishment for a change of ownership. Indeed, if it wasn't for this points deduction Cougars would now be top of the league on points difference.
He said: "It's a good thing to be in the cup. It comes after our last couple of weeks and two really tough games. It's a weekend off afterwards.
"It gives us an opportunity to give a few people a rest, giving fringe players a chance.
"It gives other players the chance to know that they are still in our thoughts at the club.
"It has been difficult to give them a game with everyone playing as well as we are. The fringe players have been really supportive to the ones that have been playing.
"It's a strange one to be playing Newcastle twice in three weeks. Do they want to do what we're going to do and save people and prioritise the league game, I don't know. They have a new coach and they are still learning under him and what he wants.
"They are a strong side. After a slow start they are picking up. We were fortunate last season to go to Newcastle and get the victory. They are a quality team with quality individuals."
Lingard says even he has been surprised by his side's brilliant start to the season, saying the squad he assembled at the last minute was full of players who had a points to prove.
He added: "We didn't get the squad together until three weeks before the season started.
"It can take six to eight weeks for the lads to get used to playing together. The lads have come together a lot quicker than expected, or hoped.
"We've have got the -12 points down in double quick time. I didn't expect it to happen this quickly. I put it down to the character of the players. We've been dubbing ourselves the misfits, a squad full of people who wanted to prove a point.
"They are really good people with a good work ethic."
TEAM NEWS
Keighley Cougars Head Coach Craig Lingard has made the rotations he promised ahead of this week's 1895 Cup tie.
James Feather, Dan Parker, Will Cooke and Matthew Bailey are all rested with Taylor Prell unavailable for selection.
Benn Hardcastle serves the first of a 3 match suspension after losing his appeal earlier in the week as Josh Lynam comes back in following the completion of his own 2 match ban.
Alex Williams comes into the side and is expected to debut at Kingston Park with Kieran Moran, Christopher Cullimore, Mark Barlow and Jordan Cella all hoping for a first appearance of 2019 as they join Williams in the 19 man squad.
Matt Nicholson (Concussion) and Reece Williams (Arm) are on the treatment table with Nicholson nearing a return.
Jimmy Beckett has not been given permission to play by his parent club, Featherstone.
COUGARS: Arnold; Barlow; Cella; Coventry; Cullimore; Dixon; Gaylor; Hallett; Levy; Lynam; Miller; Million; Moran; Muranka; Seeley; Thackray; Welham; A Williams; Wray.
Thunder Head Coach Simon Finnigan has only made one change from the side that sealed a dramatic late draw away at Whitehaven last weekend.
Jack Aldous drops out and is replaced by Thunder academy product Dan Coates, who will make his senior debut against the Cougars tomorrow.
Long-serving Joe Brown will make history tomorrow afternoon when the Jamaica international makes his 218th appearance for the club, equalling the club record for appearances made.
THUNDER: Agoro; Blanke; Brown; Carlile; Clarke; Clegg; Coates; Coleman; Craig; Doyle-Manga; Fitzsimmons; Gill; Luckley; Marginet; McAvoy; Ollett; Rowe; Simons; Young.
1895 CUP PREVIEW & SECOND ROUND DRAW DETAILS
Eight clubs from Betfred League One kick off Rugby League’s new knockout competition, the 1895 Cup, this weekend – battling for the right to join 12 Championship clubs in Sunday night’s second round draw, when the 16 teams involved will be only three wins from involvement in Coral Challenge Cup Final day at Wembley Stadium.
The 1895 Cup was created last winter to give non-Super League clubs a second, and more realistic, opportunity to reach Wembley – and to add to the celebration of Rugby League in the capital this August.
The first 1895 Cup Final will be played at Wembley Stadium on Saturday August 24 (5:30pm kick-off), with the semi finals scheduled for Sunday July 28.
Fourteen of the 20 clubs who have entered the inaugural 1895 Cup have won the Challenge Cup since it was founded in 1896, and 13 of them have played at Wembley – although none have appeared there since Sheffield Eagles famously shocked Wigan in 1998.
The only two former Wembley winners in this weekend’s first round ties, Hunslet and Workington Town, will meet at the South Leeds Stadium on Saturday afternoon (3pm) in a tie being streamed live by the RFL’s Our League membership app, and also by the Twitch streaming platform.
The second round draw will also be streamed live through Our League and the RFL’s Facebook page, from 6pm on Sunday evening – when the draw for the second round of the Coral Women’s Challenge Cup will also be held.
Second Round ties in the 1895 Cup are to be played between May 31 and June 5, depending on clubs’ involvement in the quarter finals of the Coral Challenge Cup on the weekend of May 31 – June 2.
SECOND ROUND DRAW NUMBERS: 1 - Barrow Raiders; 2 - Batley Bulldogs; 3 - Bradford Bulls; 4 - Dewsbury Rams; 5 - Featherstone Rovers; 6 - Halifax RL; 7 - Leigh Centurions; 8 - Rochdale Hornets; 9 - Sheffield Eagles; 10 - Swinton Lions; 11 - Widnes Vikings; 12 - York City Knights; 13 - Hunslet RL or Workington Town; 14 - Newcastle Thunder or Keighley Cougars; 15 - Doncaster RL or West Wales Raiders; 16 - Oldham or Whitehaven
STEVIE WONDER TRIBUTE ACT COMES TO COUGAR PARK
Stevie Wonder hits the Hall of Fame Bar on 17 May for an evening of Motown nostalgia.
‘Rojay’, one of the UK’s top Stevie Wonder tribute artistes, has wowed audiences in
Europe and American with his ‘wonderful stage presence and outstanding vocal talent’.
A co-founder of the band ‘DeAnte’, who’s single reached number 13 in the Dutch charts,
Rojay has, more recently, appeared on the Dutch version of The Voice and his latest
single ‘Knocked Out’ has been nominated for a Grammy Award.
Performing Stevie Wonder’s catalogue of hits, along with many others from the heyday
of Motown, this show is a must for all Motown fans. The tickets, priced at £10, will be on
sale at Cougar Park from Monday 29 April and are strictly limited.