MATCH PREVIEW: KEIGHLEY COUGARS (A) - BETFRED LEAGUE ONE (ROUND 3)

Cougar Park - the home of the Keighley Cougars

Canes look to maintain unbeaten league run at Cougars

After a week off for Mark Dunning’s men whilst the Challenge Cup Round of 16 played out, Midlands Hurricanes will make a second trip in as many months to Cougar Park to take on Keighley Cougars in the third round of the Betfred League One season.

The Hurricanes go into this fixture as one of four unbeaten teams in Betfred League One (with Rochdale, Swinton and North Wales) after fixtures with Goole Vikings and Workington Town. The opening round of the league season saw the Canes travel to wet and windy Goole to take on the league’s newest side at the Victoria Pleasure Ground, and a Matty Hanley try in the dying moments saw the Canes leave Yorkshire with the two points. A fortnight later the Canes welcomed Town to The Alexander Stadium for round two, and whilst Mark will be happy to have earned a point there was an underlying sense that the result represented a point lost rather than a point gained.

Looking to our opponents, it would be fair to say the Cougars have had a difficult start to the season. After drawing York Knights in the Second Round of the Challenge Cup many fans saw this as an opportunity to test themselves against Championship opposition, however a 72-12 defeat at Cougar Park saw them out of rugby league’s oldest competition at the first hurdle. Whilst an Izaac Farrell drop-goal saw them overcome a youthful and much-changed Canes squad in the 1895 Cup last month, that win earned them a First Round Proper draw against Featherstone Rovers (who emerged 58-14 victors at Post Office Road). Turning to the league, Sunday will represent Keighley’s first home game of the campaign after two away defeats (44-0 to Rochdale and 20-4 to Whitehaven) and they will be keen to break their duck against Midlands in front of a home crowd.

Looking at the clubs’ head-to-head record, it is the Cougars who come out on top in recent memory. Home fans will need to go back to 2021 to find the last time the Canes beat the Cougars (a 24-18 win at The Butts Park Arena shortly before the re-brand took effect). That is not to say Midlands have not taken Keighley to the limit in recent years, with notable results being the close encounter at Cougar Park during Keighley’s 2022 Invincibles Season, the 25-18 defeat to Keighley at The Alexander Stadium mid-way through last season and last month’s 7-6 defeat in the Second Preliminary Round of the 1895 Cup.

The Supporters Club have confirmed that there will be no Supporters Bus to Cougar Park for this fixture, but we are aware a number of fans who would have otherwise gone on the Supporters Bus will be making their own way to Keighley tomorrow. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible with your heads on fire!

Your www.enjoytravel.com 21-man squads:
Keighley Cougars
1 - Brandon Pickersgill
2 - Brad Holroyd
3 - Adam Ryder
4 - Junior Sa’u
5 - Billy Walkley
6 - Izaac Farrell
7 - Jack Miller
8 - Lewis Hatton
9 - George Flanagan
10 - Mark Ioane
11 - Brad England
13 - Aaron Brown
15 - Dan Parker
16 - Jordan Schofield
22 - Valu Tane Bentley
23 - Leo Aliyiu
28 - Bobby Hartley
29 - Lucas Green
30 - Nolan Tupaea
32 - Connor Sayner
36 - Ewan Smith

Midlands Hurricanes
1 - Todd Horner (Sponsored by Yorkshire Ceiling Services)
2 - Matty Chrimes (Sponsored by Lowry Recruitment)
3 - Ryan Johnson (Sponsored by Hull Wyke Rugby League)
4 - Ross Oakes (Sponsored by Geoff and Maureen Hammond)
6 - Jake Sweeting (Sponsored by In Memory of Robert and Stephen Sweeting)
8 - Jon-Luke Kirby (C) (Sponsored by EJ Interiors Ltd)
9 - Danny Barcoe (Sponsored by St Katherine’s Carpets)
11 - Tom Wilkinson (Sponsored by JW Visual)
12 - Josh Jordan-Roberts (Sponsored by 39 Steps Consulting)
13 - Mikey Wood (Sponsored by MG Electrical Contractors Ltd)
14 - Aiden Roden (Sponsored by Enjoy Travel Group)
15 - Aaron Willis (Available to Sponsor)
16 - Ellis Hobson (Sponsored by GLLEE UK Ltd)
17 - Kieran Moran (Available to Sponsor)
18 - Zeus Silk (Sponsored by This is Warrior)
19 - Marcus Green (Available to Sponsor)
20 - Elliott Morris (Sponsored by GLR Energy Ltd)
21 - Sullivan Medforth (Sponsored by Ideal Building Systems)
24 - Matty Hanley (Sponsored by JGE Wholesale)
25 - Luis Roberts (Sponsored by Crypto Construction)
26 - Ethan Newboult (Sponsored by Leeds Rugby Club)

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