MATCH PREVIEW: KEIGHLEY COUGARS (A) - 1895 CUP SECOND PRELIMINARY ROUND

Hurricanes face Cougars in first competitive away trip in 2025

After three consecutive cup games at home, the Hurricanes will play their first competitive away game of 2025 as they travel to Cougar Park to take on Keighley in the Second Preliminary Round of the 1895 Cup.

As mentioned in an earlier match preview, the 1895 Cup has undergone a significant transformation for the 2025 season and has introduced two Preliminary Rounds to whittle the 11 League One participants down to four, who will then go on to join the 12 English Championship sides in the First Round Proper. Whilst the Cougars received an automatic bye into the Second Preliminary Round, the Canes had to topple Whitehaven two weeks ago in the First Preliminary Round (which they did, 52-24). Both teams go into this fixture already knowing that a victory will earn them a trip to Post Office Road to take on Featherstone Rovers in the First Round (with the tie being played during the weekend of 1/2 March), with three more victories earning them a place at Wembley.

As the Canes enter the final weeks of pre-season, Head Coach Mark Dunning will be largely pleased with the team’s performances over the last month or so. A friendly victory at Batley Bulldogs (30-34) was followed up by cup victories over Siddal (46-0) and Whitehaven (see above) before the lads suffered their first competitive loss against Super League’s Salford Red Devils in the Third Round of the Challenge Cup (10-46). However, the toll of back-to-back games has had its toll on Mark Dunning’s squad, with the Canes choosing to rest numerous players and provide potential competitive debuts to youngsters Ethan Newboult and Louis Beattie. Mark has also brought Hunslet winger Joe Hartley to the club on an initial two-week loan deal, as well as inviting Eligh Wilkinson - brother of fan favourite Tom Wilkinson - to the club for an initial trial.

Our opponents had a largely successful 2024 season, finishing comfortably in second place and earning themselves a spot in the Qualifying Semi-Final where they defeated Rochdale Hornets 26-22. This win earned them a home Play-Off Final tie with Hunslet, where the visitors - who had to play three prior play-off games to get to that stage - emerged 20-6 winners before going on to defeat Swinton Lions in the Relegation Play-Off Final. Despite having a strong league campaign, the Cougars faithful will undoubtedly have expected their players to at least make it to the Relegation Play-Off Final at a minimum and would have been disappointed to not find themselves in the Championship. With the Super 8’s format returning to League One for the 2025 play-offs, Keighley will be aiming to be one of the four League One clubs able to progress to take on the bottom four Championship sides in the Autumn.

The Canes and Keighley have faced each other numerous times over the last several years (other than during the 2023 season following Keighley’s perfect league campaign in 2022), with the Canes last victory over the Cougars coming in 2021 at the Butts Park Arena (24-18). The 2024 season saw the clubs meet twice, with Keighley emerging 25-18 victors following an intense contest at The Alexander Stadium, before doing the double over Midlands at Cougar Park (36-12). Mark will therefore no doubt be looking for a first Canes victory over the Cougars in four years, as well as a first ever victory over Keighley away from home.

Squads:

Keighley Cougars
1 - Brandon Pickersgill
2 - Brad Holroyd
3 - Adam Ryder
4 - Junior S’au
5 - Billy Walkley
6 - Izaac Farrell
7 - Jack Miller
8 - Lewis Hatton
9 - George Flanagan
11 - Brad England
12 - Lachlan Lanskey
14 - Harry Bowes
15 - Dan Parker
16 - Jordan Schofield
18 - Ben Dean
20 - Oliver Whitford
23 - Leo Aliyiu
28 - Bobby Hartley
31 - Charlie McKler
34 - Jarrod Sammut
36 - Ewan Smith

Midlands Hurricanes RLFC
1 - Todd Horner (Sponsored by Yorkshire Ceiling Services)
2 - Matty Chrimes (Sponsored by Lowry Recruitment)
3 - Ryan Johnson (Sponsored by Crypto Construction)
4 - Ross Oakes (Sponsored by Geoff and Maureen Hammond)
6 - Jake Sweeting (Sponsored by In Memory of Robert & Stephen Sweeting)
7 - Callum McLelland (C)
11 - Tom Wilkinson (Sponsored by JW Visual)
13 - Mikey Wood (Sponsored by MG Electrical Contractors Ltd)
14 - Aiden Roden (Sponsored by Enjoy Travel Group)
15 - Aaron Willis
16 - Ellis Hobson (Sponsored by Gllee UK Ltd)
17 - Kieran Moran
19 - Marcus Green
20 - Elliott Morris (Sponsored by GLR Energy Ltd)
21 - Sullivan Medforth (Sponsored by Ideal Building Systems)
22 - Jose Kenga (Sponsored by Longbridge Taiho Jutsu)
26 - Ethan Newboult (Sponsored by Leeds Golf Club)
32 - Chris Cullimore (Sponsored by Autex Acoustics)
00 - Louis Beattie
00 - Joe Hartley (Loan)
00 - Eligh Wilkinson (Trialist)