Marshall’s Fax feeling confident ahead of Dewsbury test

Halifax coach Richard Marshall is hoping that his team can exploit the confidence generated by their 80-4 win over Lock Lane in the Challenge Cup last week.

Several players came into the Fax squad for the game against the community side, and Marshall now has some selection questions to consider for Sunday’s game against Dewsbury.

“We scored some nice tries and got a bit of confidence back with the ball in hand,” he said.

“We rested some players and had five players who hadn’t played for a number of weeks. They came in and did a real good job, which poses some selection problems for me this week.

“We didn’t pick up any further injuries. Gareth Potts had a game, Ben Johnston had a game and they’ve been out injured for a number of weeks. In that regard it’s very positive.

“Dewsbury are probably similar to ourselves, they’ve probably not hit their straps yet and they’ll be looking to do that this week against us.

“We’ve got to remind ourselves that we’re not where we want to be, we want to be further up the table. If we can get some nice combinations and challenge a good team, then I’ll be more than happy.”

Dewsbury Rams beat York City Knights 30-16 in their Challenge Cup tie last weekend.

Rams coach Glenn Morrison was very pleased with the quality shown by his team in that victory, and is hoping for more of the same against Halifax.

“It was always going to be tough and we had a lot of players out,” he said.

“We started well then lost our way a little bit but in the second half got back to getting the basics right, completing sets and it was 20-0 in the second half which was pleasing. A lot of the young boys stood up and took their chance.

“Obviously Halifax is a step up, we need to improve on what we did on Friday night.

“We know if we get some bodies back, and get an even amount of ball, we can match them. We need to make sure we’re at the top of our game.”