Kingstone Press League 1 preview: London Skolars v University of Gloucestershire All Golds

Jermaine Coleman got his first win as London Skolars coach last week against South Wales Scorpions.

“It’s nice to get that first win under the belt,” he said. “It was a potential banana skin and the boys did well. We made it difficult for ourselves but ultimately got the desired result.”

On the visit of University of Gloucestershire All Golds to the New River Stadium he said:“Like everyone does, certain games will be targeted more than others and it’s certainly one as a home fixture. I suppose with all our home fixtures we’re looking at a potential win.

“Hopefully we’ll have a couple of faces returning this week which will strengthen our team a little bit.”

Half-back Tommy Connick could be out for up to six weeks with knee ligament damage but prop Dave Williams is likely to be back from his spell with London Broncos and full-back Matt Cook should return from illness.

University of Gloucestershire All Golds are still searching for their first win having lost to Rochdale Hornets last week.

Coach Lee Greenwood said: “Rochdale was similar to the other games we’ve lost, we’re not far off but in the same breath quite a distance off. We just need to find that consistency in our game. We competed well for about 45/50 minutes and the score line should have been close.”

Greenwood expects a tough contest against the Skolars. “They got their first win last week and will expect to win this week,” he said. “They’ve got a new coach and are looking to bring in new players so as the season goes on, they’ll get stronger and stronger.

“Every game between southern teams are the real big ones; people think they can pick up results.

“We’re just going to concentrate ourselves; we know we can be good. In the games we’ve lost we’ve competed for long periods but then let ourselves down. It’s just the mentality that we can compete and beat teams in this division.”