NATIONAL LEAGUE ONE

Doncaster Dragons v Oldham
DONCASTER, boosted by their impressive 16-12 league win at Dewsbury Rams last Sunday, go into the challenge by Oldham in a confident mood and encouraged by the news that their New Zealand forward Maea David and Welsh international winger Jason Lee are fit again after injury spells. Dragons coach St John Ellis is happy that their form at Ram Stadium will be a great platform from which to face Oldham, who beat Doncaster in the play-offs on their last visit to Belle Vue. “Such is the quality of this competition that you just have be up to play every week,” said Ellis. “I can’t remember winning at Dewsbury in the four years I’ve been coach here at Doncaster and there’s no doubt the quality of that performance has certainly boosted the confidence of my players for this important league match. “We shall be watching Oldham on video at training and then we shall get down to thinking about naming a team.” Oldham coach Steve Molloy is under no illusions about the quality of Doncaster’s win over Dewsbury because he’s already seen a recording of the match on video. “It was a tough old match,” he said, “and to be honest we’re expecting more of the same. “The quality of National League One competition means that every week you’re faced with the same intense competition and the Dragons know what that means because they lost their first match at home to Rochdale Hornets. “Every club just wants to turn their home ground into a fortress which makes it more difficult for teams to win away.” Oldham have lost second row forward Ryan Stazicker with torn groin but have recalled Gavin Johnson from loan at Chorley Lynx to cover the gap. And Molloy knows what his players will face at Doncaster on Sunday because he was in the Oldham side that beat the Dragons in that play-off game. “The Dragons are a good side,” he said, “ and it will be a difficult match for both sides.”

ARRIVA TRAINS CUP - QUARTER FINALS PREVIEW

Barrow Raiders v Salford City Reds
BARROW Raiders are National League Two’s surviving representatives in the Arriva Trains Cup and for their quarterfinal tie they have been drawn at Craven Park against Salford City Reds, who were relegated from the Tetley’s Super League at the end of last season. And the Raiders are going into the tie with a serious injury list including three long term problems and three more fairly serious injuries sustained in their 41-10 league win at London Skolars. Coming into contention for Barrow will be former Hull and Workington Town centre Jamie Smith and forward Dave Williams from Ulverston. Barrow coach Cameron Bell said: “This is a game we’ve just got to get out of the way. “We’ve got some serious injury problems and this is many chance to give some other blokes a chance while some of my players recover from injury. “Having said that when we played Salford in the Powergen Challenge Cup we performed respectably while other sides have suffered heavy defeats at their hands.”
Salford boss Karl Harrison knows that the Raiders are not going to be easy touches. “It’s never easy in Cumbria,” he said. “And I don’t expect this one to be any different. They gave us a hard time in the Challenge Cup so we know that any gaps in our preparation will be fully exploited. “Besides so many teams raise their games against us it makes it 20 per cent more difficult for us in every match we play.” The Reds don’t expect to make many chances to the team that beat Oldham so convincingly last weekend and Harrison will be taking a 19-man squad to Barrow from which he will select his squad close to the kick off.

Leigh Centurions v Featherstone Rovers.
THE form book was bowled a googly last weekend when Rovers, who had beaten National League One favourites Salford City Reds seven days earlier, were soundly thrashed 50-12 on their visit to Hilton Park. But Centurions coach Paul Terzis is not leaving anything to chance with his Arriva Trains Cup pre-quarter final preparations.
“We will be seeking revenge for our defeat by Rovers in the Powergen Challenge Cup,” he admitted. “And we’re expecting a tough encounter because the Featherstone players will be smarting from last week’s result.
“We hadn’t spoken about the Cup defeat until this week but it has certainly featured in our discussions for the last few days.” Rob Ball is back in contention for Leigh but there are injury worries over former England hooker Paul Rowley and halfback Jon Duffy. Featherstone Rovers coach Andy Kelly was certainly not impressed by their defeat by Leigh and he says that his players will have to justify their places in the side with much improved performances this week. “That awful defeat is in the record books now,” said Kelly, “and there is nothing the players can do about it. But they can start making amends by giving a far better display against Leigh on Sunday.”
One player certainly out of the running not only for this quarterfinal tie but also probably for the rest of the season is forward Robin Jowett who suffered a neck fracture last weekend. Explained Kelly: “Robin is back in hospital. He was released after treatment earlier in the week but we took him to a specialist on Wednesday. Now he has been re-admitted him while they decide on the best way to treat him. “I have been looking at our Under 21 side and considering whether any of the players who perform well for them can be usefully brought in against Leigh to show me what they can do.”

Whitehaven v Dewsbury Rams
WHITEHAVEN go into their Arriva Trains Cup quarterfinal against Dewsbury Rams as red-hot favourites - after all they are undefeated in Arriva Trains competition games with nine wins a draw. But the ‘Haven players are dealing with the pressure well as their coach Steve McCormack explains: “They’re enjoying themselves and I’ve always been one who believes that winning is a habit. “We’re under no illusions about the size of the task facing us on Sunday. “The Rams are a very physical side and they have a capable halfback in former Castleford player Adam Thaler. They are also very competitive and we shall have to be on our mettle on Sunday.” At least McCormack is going into the encounter free from injury worries and he added: “I’m likely to go with the same squad that played against Hull KR.” There is no disguising the confidence of Rams boss Andy Fisher even though they have won just one of their four National League One games so far this season. “We’re looking forward to this one,” he said. “Of course Whitehaven are a good side. Their record speaks for itself but we’re going to Cumbria in a good frame of mind and confident we can do the job.” John Waddell is likely to be ruled out for the Rams having suffered concussion the league defeat by Doncaster Dragons last Sunday. The Rams have completed the signing of former Wakefield Trinity Wildcat centre or second row forward Graham Law but he will not be included in their squad for the Cup match.

Hull KR v Batley Bulldogs
BATLEY Bulldogs lost 16-10 at Craven Park, Hull last Sunday but coach Paul Storey and his ‘Dogs are going back to Rovers convinced that they can reverse the situation in this Arriva Trains Cup quarterfinal. Storey explained: “A controversial decision as well as a couple of mistakes hit us badly last week but we believe in ourselves sufficiently to think that we can win this time. “Rovers are a useful side and will have home advantage. If we can pick up where we left off in last week’s second half then we will have every chance of making the semi-final draw.” Storey has to do without David Rourke with an ankle injury while he will be giving fullback Craig Lingard a fitness test on his damaged knee on Saturday. Added Storey: “If Craig doesn’t make it through the test then Mark Sibson will come in at fullback and it’s great to have a player with his experience to call upon.” Hull KR are best by injury woes and coach Steve Linnane was waiting the outcome of a training session before making any firm team plans.
Centre Craig Poucher (groin) is among his most serious injury worries and Linnane will leave it as late as possible to make a final decision on his line up. Said Linnane: “Matches between Hull KR and Batley are traditionally tough and this one should live up to all those previous encounters. It should be close."