This coming Saturday, the 20th July, Joe Mbu will head north with his Skolars squad ready to compete in the club’s first major final since turning professional in 2003. Skolars will contest the Northern Rail Bowl Final with Championship 1 rivals North Wales Crusaders. The match is being played at the Shay Stadium Halifax and kicks off at 2.30pm. Later in the afternoon Leigh Centurions will play Sheffield Eagles in the Northern Rail Cup Final.
Halifax born Skolars chairman Terry Browne will be returning to the ground where, over 50 years ago, he lead his soccer team King Cross Youth to the Halifax football youth league cup final. Skolars full-back James Anthony also comes from Halifax and played for King Cross Juniors.
Skolars go into this weekend’s final on the back of a four match winning run in the league. The most recent win, against Gateshead Thunder, saw three players make the Kingstone Press Championship 1 Team of the Week: James Anthony (full-back), Smokie Junor (wing), Mike Worrincy (second row).
Commenting on Skolars recent run of good form Joe Mbu had this to say. “None of our last four games have been easy, especially in the first half, but we’ we’ve come up with the goods in the second half and that’s the mark of a team improving, progressing and showing some resilience,” he said. “We just need to keep doing that.”
Looking ahead to the final Mbu commented. “The mood around the camp is a relaxed one, but everyone understands how important this game is.” he said. “The main focus for me and the staff has been to pick up the points in our league matches. Now we can and focus on the final. “The players have been really good, there’s been no mention of it in the changing room: we’ve just been focused on the league. Now we’ve got this break, we’ve done a little bit of training just to get us to focus on the final. All our eggs are in this basket now and we’ll just see what happens.”
The biggest headache facing Mbu is a pleasant one: “We’ve been injury-free for the last five weeks,” he said. “I’ve got players who are frustrated that they’re not getting into the squad and are itching to get back in the team.”
Neither finalist had a game last weekend so both squads have had plenty of time to prepare for the big day and clear up any injury concerns. The two clubs, who are both pushing for promotion to the Championship, meet again if five weeks time when Crusaders visit New River as Skolars Friday Night Lights opponents. The annual eve of Challenge Cup Final fixture, being televised again by Premier Sports, is expected to draw a large crowd to witness two of the top Championship 1 teams go head to head as the season reaches its climax.
Information on Friday Night Lights can be obtained from the Skolars website skolarsstag.wpengine.com or by calling 020 8888 8488