Kingstone Press League 1 Preview: Keighley Cougars v South Wales Scorpions

Keighley Cougars went to the top of the league after their victory at Barrow Raiders. But it was a tough second half according to coach Paul March.

“I thought we were cruising a bit, everything was going our way but the sending off seemed to galvanise them,” he said.

“Their tempo lifted a bit and momentum swung in their direction. There’s not many teams who are going to go up to Barrow and get two points so we were happy to back up the Oldham game with another two points.

“We’ve got to go into the South Wales game with the right attitude and give them the respect they deserve but on the other hand we’ve got to be ruthless and professional.

It’s about how we approach this game. If we have the right attitude the outcome will be in our favour but if we don’t, it’s going to be a dogfight and an arm wrestle.

“I think it’s about what we do this week rather than what they’re going to produce.”

South Wales Scorpions came close to notching up their first win of the season at Oxford.

Coach Mike Grady said: “No disrespect to Oxford but I think we deserved the win. They got out of jail in the last 10 minutes and their dual-reg Matty Blythe was the difference, he was everywhere.

“But the positives were that we played for 70 minutes, so we’re improving and playing for longer periods, which is a good thing.

“It doesn’t get any easier this week and I don’t think the top teams will go easy on us because they’re all looking for points. They’ll be firing into the game and trying to put as many points on.

“It’s the same every week, everyone we play doesn’t want to be the first team to lose to us. It takes a bit of pressure off us to be honest. I just want the lads to play how they can play and put in 100 per cent, enjoy what they’re doing and keep improving – that’s the goal.”

They will be without a number of players this week with Neil Dallimore, Tom Morgan, Anthony Simmons, Ben Jones and Dai Hellard all injured. Curtis Davies, Connor Davies, Rhys Davies and Osian Phillips are all on duty at the Student Four Nations, Mikey Connor is unavailable through work commitments and Scott Giles has been released.

The club are looking to bring in several players from local community clubs to bolster their squad.