Kingstone Press League 1 Preview: North Wales Crusaders v Swinton Lions

North Wales Crusaders coach Anthony Murray wasn’t too downhearted after his side’s 19-18 defeat to Rochdale Hornets.

“We had opportunities to win the game,” he said.

“With five to six first team regulars missing and to put in a performance where we could have easily got the two points, maybe isn’t a victory in the league table but it was definitely a moral victory for the players and all concerned.

“But fair play to Rochdale, they took the two points.

“It doesn’t get any easier this week and we’ve lost two more players for the season, Stuart Reardon and Scott Turner, both with broken hands – that’s five players missing for the rest of the season.

“But Alex Thompson, Stephen Wild, Karl Ashall and Christiaan Roets are back so we should have a stronger team out this week and hopefully give Swinton a good run for their money.”

Swinton Lions coach John Duffy is looking for his side to back up after their impressive 74-4 win over London Skolars.

“It was a good, professional performance form us last week,” he said.

“We just need to keep nice and intense going into a big week against North Wales. They’re a good team, we’ve not beaten them yet this season so it’s a big game for us and we’ll go into it very confident.”