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Emotional Day Awaits – London Skolars Preview


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London Skolars v Keighley Cougars Match Preview by Joshua Chapman (@JRCSport) in association with PT Intensity.

Date: Saturday 30th April

Time: 2.30pm

Venue: New River Stadium, London.

Following a bye week after the victory over the All Golds, the Cougars return to action for this iPro Sport Cup Semi Final in their first return to London since the tragic death of Danny Jones.

LAST TIME OUT:

London Skolars moved to fourth in League One as they continued their impressive start to the 2016 season with a home victory over the Coventry Bears. Alex Anthony and Erjon Dollapi both grabbed braces on the afternoon with further tries coming from former Cougar Jy-Mel Coleman, John Paxton, Mike Bishay and Israel Eliab, on dual-registration from the London Broncos.

The Cougars under-performed but still came out with a comfortable victory over the All Golds. A brace from Hamish Barnes and further ties on the afternoon from Charlie Martin, Ritchie Hawkyard, Ash Lindsay, Scott Law and Andy Gabriel were enough to see off a spirited Gloucestershire outfit at Cougar Park.

TEAM NEWS:

Jermaine Coleman could come into this fixture with the same nineteen he has used in both the victories over the Bears and the North Wales Crusaders the week previous. This depends on the availability of Israel Eliab who could be selected by parent club London Broncos for their Championship fixture against the Bradford Bulls on the Sunday.

Paul March could welcome Rikki Sheriffe back into the side after his missed the victory over the All Golds with a shoulder injury with Vinny Finigan and Darren Hawkyard also pushing for re-calls to the side. March will be without veteran half-back Paul Handforth however, who is set to miss the game due to work commitments, which is set to see Liam Darville make his second appearance off the season. .

KEY BATTLE:

This is set to be a tough game on such an emotional day at the New River Stadium and mental preparation could be key. However, on the field, Jy-Mel Coleman has been inspiring following his return from suspension and his battle with opposite number Adam Brook could be what decides which of these two teams book themselves a trip to Blackpool.

THE COACHES:

London Skolars Head Coach Jermaine Coleman has yet to comment.

Keighley Cougars Head Coach Paul March: “I don’t think getting the players up for it will be a problem, but mentally it’s going to bring back a lot of memories and that’s one of the reasons why we are taking the full squad down with us. There may be some people who won’t be able to deal with certain situations, so it gives me the opportunity to change the side if I need to if some players aren’t mentally ready to play.

“We will sit down as a group beforehand and make sure we are ready to go out and play. If there are players who aren’t ready, someone else will step in. It will be very emotional and there would be no better way to pay tribute to Jonesy than to win this game and reach the iPro Sport Cup final at Bloomfield Road next month.

“It will be a tough game because of London’s forward pack and they are a handful down there.”

THE REFEREE:

The referee this Saturday at the New River Stadium is Tom Grant from Leeds. This is Grant’s second Cougars appointment of the 2016 season with the other coming back in February as the Cougars slipped to a narrow 18-14 pre-season friendly defeat away at the Barrow Raiders.

PREDICTION:

This game will be a different sort of game as the emotion of the occasion could be a big factor in the outcome, even more so with a place in the final in Blackpool at stake. The Skolars are certainly no pushovers and have showed this with victories over Doncaster and North Wales, the Cougars are in for a tough afternoon but should have enough in the tank to get the job done. – KEIGHLEY BY 14.



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