Kingstone Press League 1 preview: North Wales Crusaders v Hemel Stags

North Wales Crusaders go into the game at Hemel Stags on the back of an impressive 50-18 victory at South Wales Scorpions.

Coach Anthony Murray said: “It was our first derby of the season; there were over a thousand people there and everyone bought into the occasion. I was glad that we were on the right side of the result.

“It’s going to be another tough encounter this weekend, Hemel are a big physical side. You can’t really predict how they’re going to play, they’re really an ‘off the cuff’ type of team.

“We’ve come up with a couple of good wins and we need to keep focused and moving forward. We want that momentum to carry on into the Blackpool game.”

Troy Perkins, the Hemel Stags coach, was disappointed with his side’s 58-12 defeat to Newcastle Thunder.

“We conceded 40 points in the first half and that’s just not good enough,” he said. “A couple of things went against us but it’s unacceptable. Newcastle are a good team but we need to be a lot better.

“It doesn’t get any easier going up to North Wales. They’re coming off a back of a couple of wins so it’s going to be another tough test. We’ve just got to front up and give ourselves a chance. We haven’t given ourselves a chance against the better teams this season because of our defence and lack of concentration at times.”

Forward Jamie O’Callaghan is likely to be out for the rest of the season with a dislocated shoulder.