All roads for rugby league fans in West Cumbria on Saturday should lead to Lowca for a first round tie in the Challenge Cup.
It’s the first time in over 25 years that the village side have reached the competition and coach Lee Allen is naturally excited about the prospect of action again in the prestigious spectacle.
“Everyone in the village seems to be talking about and there is a tremendous amount of interest. We are also getting good luck messages from other clubs in the area and I think we will get a number of people coming to watch from those.
“It is our first game of the season but we have been back in training with the squad for three weeks now, doing what we can to get fitness into them and do some ball work. To be fair some of the lads have been doing their own training since the end of last season.
“The forecast seems fine and the pitch will be ready and all the players are looking forward to what will undoubtedly be a tough but memorable contest.”
Allen will be operating with around 30 players this coming Cumberland ARL season but by the rules could only name 24 for the Cup clash, which will be reduced to 17 on the day.
“Edinburgh Eagles will be tough opponents. We expect them to have a big strong pack of forwards with a couple of classy half-backs,” says Allen. “They are coming here as champions of Scotland and will pose a threat.”
Andrew McPhail is one of the Edinburgh officials and he said earlier this week: “Being invited to take part is acknowledgement that we were the best team in Scotland in 2023, having won the domestic competition.
“While the Challenge Cup gives us an opportunity to measure our progress against established teams, we are under no illusions that we are one of the weakest teams in the competition.
“Our objective is to give a good account of ourselves and of the standard of the game in Scotland. If that is good enough on the day, hopefully that will earn us a win.
“The squad is optimistic. More and more of our players now have experience of playing in the Challenge Cup and are keen to be able to say that they were part of a Scottish team that has won in round one after many years of trying.”
The kick-off is at 1-30pm and the tie will be officiated by Barrow referee Lucas Seal.
Meanwhile Allen is looking long term to the start of the Cumberland ARL in March, hopeful of a good performance throughout the season.
“We have the same lads who did well for us last season but added to them now are our Under-16s who are stepping-up to Under-18s. There’s going to be plenty of competition for places.
“I think it’s going to be a competitive Cumberland League this year and we want to be up there mixing it with the best,” he said.
