MATCH INFORMATION
KEIGHLEY COUGARS v DISTINGTON - CORAL CHALLENGE CUP ROUND THREE
SUNDAY 10TH MARCH - 3PM KICK OFF
COUGAR PARK - KEIGHLEY - BD21 3RF
REFEREE - MR STEPHEN RACE (WAKEFIELD)
ADMISSION:
ADULT - £10 (18-64)
CONCESSIONS - £5 (DISABLED, 65+, STUDENT, 14-17)
JUNIORS - FREE (UNDER 13s)
LINNERS NOT FAZED BY FAVOURITES TAG
CRAIG Lingard says his Keighley Cougars squad can handle the pressure of not being underdogs in their weekend cup clash.
Lingard says he was impressed by his side's display in their first Betfred League One win of the season, as they made their first two-point dent in their -12 point pre-season deduction.
He said: "We want to do as well as we can in the cup. We know we won't have an opportunity to win the Challenge Cup, but we want to get as far in it as we can and make as much money from it as we can.
"There is a little bit of pressure on us for not being underdogs, we have go to handle that. We don't know much about Distington, but it is a competitive cup game.
"We showed we can handle pressure on Sunday against Coventry. It was brilliant. The atmosphere at the club through pre-season has been really good.
"We have done well so far but Sunday's win was only one game.
"There will be trials and tribulations and bumps in the road coming up for us. There are some tough games coming up for us in the next few weeks.
"There was an official attendance of 915 at Cougar Park against Coventry, but it could have been four figures. The number of supporters certainly lifts the players. Everybody likes playing in front of big crowds. It's good to get everybody excited about Keighley again."
Lingard added his side has set their standards for the season after their dominating display against the Bears.
He said: "We have set our standards certainly defensively. It was one of the best displays since I have been at the club.
"We have proved we can defend really well. We are nowhere near the finished article."
TEAM NEWS & 19 MAN SQUADS
Head Coach Craig Lingard has been forced into a number of changes to the squad that defeated the Coventry Bears last Sunday afternoon.
Loan trio Darren Forde & Jimmy Beckett (both Featherstone) and Lewis Wray (Wakefield) have not been given permission to play by their parent clubs as they don't want the threesome to be cup-tied.
Harvey Hallas however has been given permission to play by the Dewsbury Rams and comes into the 19 man squad.
There is also a recall into the squad for Luke Million after missing out on last Sunday's win with Dan Parker, fresh from re-joining the club on Friday from the London Skolars, also coming into the side.
COUGARS: Arnold, Bailey, Cooke, Coventry, Dixon, Feather, Gaylor, Hallas, Hallett, Hardcastle, Levy, Lynam, Miller, Million, Muranka, Parker, Seeley, Thackray, Welham.
Distington have named their 19 man squad for Sunday's game, the squad is as follows.
DISTINGTON: Adams, Bedford, Clarke, A Conway, S Conway, Dryden, Friel, George, Hewer, Hodgson, Lister, Lynch, Martin, McNicholas, Ritchie, Stephenson, C Sutton, S Sutton, Weighman.
THE DISTINGTON ISSUE OF #CDQ
The 2019 Keighley Cougars Matchday Programme, #CDQ, will be on sale at this Sunday's game for the price of £3.
INSIDE THIS WEEK'S ISSUE OF #CDQ
Pull-out poster of Matthew Bailey
20Q with Macauley Hallett
10 Things You Didn't Know About with Luke Million
Player in Focus with Jack Arnold
A full in-depth look at Sunday's opponents, Distington
AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!
GETTING TO KNOW DISTINGTON
Mark Askew is the Chairman of Distington ARL and also does the physio duties on matchdays. Mark has been a member of the back room staff and committee for 10 years and chairman now for 4 years.
Carl Hewer is Head Coach and has been since 2015 after his brother Gary Hewer stepped down. He has been involved since 2006 when he was assistant coach making up a very good coaching duo.
Carl played for Hensingham when they were one of the best amateur teams in the country, Whitehaven, Cumbria and he has also represented his country for BARLA.
He now holds the fort with help from Paul Farrel and senior players. He is a Distington lad and has won many titles and cups with Distington. He is respected by everyone and has a relaxed and humbled coaching style that suits the club well.
Distington is a village 2 miles south of Workington and 3 miles north of Whitehaven. The civil parish has an approximate population of 2'200 but the village itself only around 1500.
You will find some Workington Town fans and some Whitehaven fans in the village but most will tell you they are just Distington fans, "die hard Distington fans".
The current clubhouse was built/founded in 1986 but teams have played since the early 80's. Having said that teams have been playing Rugby League in Distington from as far back as the 1960's possibly earlier.
The village is a close knit community and along with the Club for Young People (former boys club) and The Community Centre our club is a central social and sports hub for our residents and the team is the 'pride of Distington'.
Distington have youth teams lead by coaches that also play in the open age team with 40 + kids of all abilities, girls and boys.
After a short period without Rugby League in the village from 2002 to 2005 due to a fall in numbers, we held a friendly match between themsleves on boxing day 2004 which attracted 35 players.
This lead to the club entering a team into the Cumberland League second division the following year in 2005 and a new era had begun. Every year from then they improved and in their 4th season they were crowned Division 2 Champions and promoted to the first division under Gary and Carl Hewer's leadership.
Once promoted to the first division they contended well but always seemed to fall short of a top 4 place for quit a few seasons finishing 5th or 6th.
The club finally won the first major trophy in 2014 beating Kells in the Top 4 Final before they joined the National Conference League the following year.
The team's preparations, match day rituals and professionalism was installed by Gary and still today we have changed nothing under Carl.
Gary Hewer took the club from what many would of called a pub team to a very well drilled and professionaly organised amateur squad and backroom staff.
Mark says: "Not at any point would I have said we where a pub team. We have always been a committed team serious about our rugby.
"Our current open age team consists of about 70% of players being from the village with lads from Salterbeck and Harrington in Workington making up the rest as this is a catchment area for our club.
"Winger Phil Lister travels 30 minutes from Dearham to train and play. These players will admit they are as much Distington lads as anything else, everyone knows them, fans love them and they have been with us for many years."
Since reforming in 2005 the club's honours list reads:
2014: Cumberland Division 1 Top 4 play off Champions
2015: Cumbria Mens League and Cumberland Cup Champions
2016: Cumbria Mens League, County Cup, Cumberland Cup, Amateur Cup and Top 4 Play Off Champions.
2017: Cumberland Cup and Top 4 Play Off.
2018: Cumberland League 1st division and Amateur Cup Champions.
2018 Challenge Cup: Round 1: D/ton 32 - 24 Queens; Round 2: D/ton 12 - 4 Cas Lock Lane; Round 3: Coventry Bears 42 - 14 D/ton.
2019 Challenge Cup: Round 1: D/ton 42-0 Torfaen Tigers; Round 2: D/ton 14-6 Royal Air Force
RUGBY LEAGUE ROCKETTES AT CP THIS SUNDAY
The Rugby League Rockettes, the official cheerleaders of the RFL, will be live and in action at Cougar Park this Sunday afternoon ahead of our Coral Challenge Cup tie against Distington.
Nicola from the Rockettes will be launching the Cougars Dance Academy which begins this Thursday (14th March) here at Cougar Park, all the information is on the poster below.
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