MATCH INFORMATION
KEIGHLEY COUGARS v NORTH WALES CRUSADERS - BETFRED LEAGUE ONE ROUND FIVE
SUNDAY 24TH MARCH - 3PM KICK OFF
COUGAR PARK - KEIGHLEY - BD21 3RF
REFEREE - MR ANDY SWEET (CASTLEFORD)
ADMISSION:
ADULT - £10
CONCESSIONS - £5
JUNIORS - FREE
LINNERS WANTS FORTRESS LAWKHOLME
MAKING Cougar Park a fortress will help Keighley continue to erase their -12-point deduction, according to head coach Craig Lingard.
Cougars entertain third-from-bottom North Wales Crusaders in Betfred League One on Sunday (kick-off 3pm) after picking up a point in an 18-18 draw at London Skolars last weekend.
With a healthy increase in crowds and renewed optimism in the town, Cougar Park has already proved to be a happy home for Keighley this season. They grabbed a 28-14 victory over Distington in the Challenge Cup third round, which followed a 40-8 home league victory over Coventry Bears.
Lingard has also warned starting places are on the line for his players as they face Bradford Bulls in the Challenge Cup fourth round on March 31, if they fail to stay fully focused on Sunday's clash.
He said: "Home form is essential for us. If we can chalk up the majority of wins at home and then some points away, that would do us good.
"We want to make sure we don't make it easy for any team that takes points away from Cougar Park. We want to win as many games as we possibly can at home. We want to make Cougar Park a fortress.
"The position where North Wales are is a false one. They are a very good team. They have played all the teams up there so far. They have played Workington Town, Oldham and Hunslet. They have had a really difficult start, I have not read too much into that. North Wales do cause you a lot of problems.
"We are not thinking about the Bulls game, we are only focused on the next game. That is the most important one.
"We are not fixating about the points total. We are taking each result as we can and we are still learning a lot about each other.
"If we win on Sunday we will be nearly halfway there of getting rid of the points deduction."
TEAM NEWS
Linners welcomes back Jamie Thackray to the side as the veteran Prop has recovered from the hamstring injury that sidelined him from last weekend's draw away at the London Skolars.
Dan Parker also comes back into the 19 man squad after missing last week's game due to a clause in his transfer that rules him out of playing against the Skolars during the 2019 season.
Jason Muranka is ruled out through an injury sustained during last weekend's game whilst Jack Arnold drops out of the 19 man squad.
COUGARS: Bailey; Beckett; Cooke; Coventry; Dixon; Feather; Gaylor; Hallas; Hallett; Hardcastle; Levy; Lynam; Miller; Million; Parker; Seeley; Thackray; Welham; Wray.
North Wales coach Anthony Murray has rung the changes from the side that fell to defeat at home to League One leaders Hunslet in Wrexham last weekend.
Sam Freeman, Kenny Hughes and Jonny Walker all drop out of the side that were beaten by the Parksiders at Queensway whilst Rochdale loan pair Elliot Jenkins and Joe Ryan also miss out at Cougar Park this Sunday.
There is a recall for former Keighley Cougars man Ben Stead into the side with Dan Price, Alex Eckley, Gavin Conroy and veteran Stephen Wild also brought in by Murray.
Chris Worrall, who joined the Crusaders on a season long-loan last week from Swinton, is in contention for his North Wales debut after being one of the two players that missed out from the initial 19 man squad last weekend.
CRUSADERS: Ashall; Atherton; Baker; Brennan; Conroy; Eckley; Hazzard; Houghton; Hurst; Massam; Price; Reid; Roper; Smith; Stead; A Thompson; W Thompson; Wild; Worrall.
INSIDE THIS WEEK'S #CDQ
INSIDE THIS WEEK'S ISSUE OF #CDQ
Pull-out poster of Matt Welham
20Q with Jimmy Beckett
10 Things You Didn't Know About with Dan Parker
Player in Focus with Aaron Levy
A full in-depth look at Sunday's opponents, North Wales Crusaders
AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!
VIEW FROM THE OPPOSITION CAMP
North Wales Crusaders are a lot better than what they served up in the defeat to Hunslet, according to head coach Anthony Murray.
The Wrexham side fell to a 22-12 defeat at Queensway Stadium as top-of-the-table Hunslet produced a professional, well-managed display to take home the points.
Crusaders had large spells of pressure, particularly in the second-half, but they couldn’t convert their territory into points.
“I’m massively frustrated,” Murray said.
“The penalty count in the first-half was 5-1 in their favour and they scored some crash-over tries.
“They didn’t really score any decent shape on us, but we switched off defensively a couple of times and they punished us.
“We put Hunslet under a lot of pressure on their tryline, but we didn’t come up with anything.
“If we get something out of those couple of sets on their tryline, you’re looking at a different game and possibly a different scoreline, but they go up the other end and score through a simple score underneath the sticks.
“We’re a lot better than what we’re sometimes serving up. We do some good bits, but then we let them off the hook.
“Hunslet have got some really good players and their game management told. It’s simplicity that sometimes wins you games and Hunslet had that. They picked up tries when they needed to and were worthy winners in the end.
“We just need to pick ourselves back up and find that winning formula. We’ve got to try and pick up some points soon and reach our aspirations of what we’re aiming for in the league.
“We’ve got to be better against Keighley.”
BULLS TICKETS ON SALE
Tickets for our Coral Challenge Cup Fourth Round tie against the Bradford Bulls are now on sale online ahead of next week's game.
Tickets are priced at £15 for Adults, £10 for Concessions and FREE for Juniors.
Tickets can be scanned on both phone devices and by being printed.
To purchase your tickets, please follow this link: https://cougarmaniatickets.co.uk/
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