Joe Mbu’s Skolars 1st team will travel north on Saturday in preparation for their Kingstone Press Championship 1 fixture against Gateshead Thunder on Sunday. The match has been moved to Filtrona Park in South Shields and will kick off at 2.00pm.
Improving Thunder will be aiming to collect their second Kingstone Press Championship One victory of the season after they collected a bonus point in their narrow defeat at Oxford last week.
Gateshead coach Kevin Neighbour said: “For periods of the game we were pretty dominant, but we switched off at the wrong times and we weren’t composed enough to get over the line.
“However, there were lots for us to take from it. I was pretty happy with how we went and I’d have taken a bonus point at the start, but then there’s the frustration of having seen that we could have won the game if we’d been a bit smarter.”
Skolars have been boosted by the news that full back James Anthony has avoided a suspension after submitting an Early Guilty Plea on a grade A charge of punching. There are no new major injury worries for Skolars who will be looking to secure their first away league victory of the 2013 campaign. Following their trip to the North East Skolars will play three succesive home fixtures over the coming weeks with University of Gloucestershire All Golds, Rochdale Hornets and Gateshead Thunder all due to visit New River.
Skolars ‘A’ Team have a home cup 1/4 final tie against United Services Portsmouth Navy Seahawks which will take place at New River on Saturday, KO 2.30pm.
Onlyt wo of the Skolars junior teams are scheduled to be in action on Saturday after Matt Cuss’s 19’s game against South London was cancelled by the opposition. Paul Thorman takes his 16’s to play top of the table Elmbridge and the 14’s travel to face Eastern Rhinos.
Good luck to all Skolars teams playing this weekend!
