Kingstone Press League 1 Preview: Newcastle Thunder v Swinton Lions

Newcastle Thunder’s lost 28-10 to Keighley Cougars last week.

Coach Stanley Gene said: “It’s the same team that started the year really well with six wins out of eight but this month has been pretty tough for us. It’s just about getting that first win and getting back on track. The attitude was there against Keighley, but when we have the chance we should be finishing things off and we didn’t.

“They took their chances really well and came away with the points. It was pretty disappointing because we trained well all week and I was pretty confident going into the game. But we’ve got to pick ourselves up. We’ve got six games left and we have to start winning.

“We’ve got Swinton on Sunday and they are a really good side. We’ve played them twice and have been very close in each game. At this point we’re desperate for a win. We know they’re a good side but we’ll be up for it.”

Swinton Lions coach John Duffy was delighted with his side’s win over Rochdale Hornets: “It was a big result for us last week,” he said. “It was a tough one and the weather was bad as well but we ground out a good win.

“We’ve got another big game this week, Newcastle are going to be tough to turn over on their own ground. They will be desperate to get back to winning ways. I think they are a very good team and they’ve done very well this year under Stanley. We’re going to have to go up there with a good game plan to beat them on that really quick 4G pitch.”