The delayed Amateur Cup quarter finals in the Holmen Iggesund Cumberland ARL take centre stage this weekend.
Sadly Glasson Rangers have been forced to pull out of the league since the ties were postponed because of the weather so Hensingham A will go through to the semi-final.
But two outstanding ties are left – Kells A v Lowca tonight and Wath Brow A and Maryport tomorrow.
The second of those is a rematch of last year’s final in which Maryport triumphed, so there’s little doubt that Wath Brow will be out for revenge.
Maryport coach Mark Foster said: “We have started with five straight wins and although we obviously can’t use our ex-pros Sam Forrester and Joe Kirkup we do have a strong squad this season.
“Craig Foster is also missing with a broken thumb but we will be taking a good squad to Wath Brow and are travelling with confidence.
“We know, however, this will be our toughest game against the title favourites and we have enormous respect for Wath Brow, a superbly organised club.”
Paul Farrell, the Wath Brow A coach added: “It was a hard-fought physical contest in the final last season and Maryport were the better team on the night.
“I expect it will be something of an arm wrestle again and we have prepared mentally as we did last week ahead of the Lowca game. It’s going to need a big effort from the boys to match them for the 80 minutes but the boys are buzzing and we intend to carry on as we have with our commitment.
“Team-wise we are going to be pretty similar and will have lads like Jenson Olstrum, Scott Goodwin and James Dixon with us with first team experience. We are all looking forward to it.”
Kells A v Lowca tonight will be equally closely fought with two enthusiastic, young sides in opposition.
Jonathan Wignall, the Kells coach, said: “We are looking forward to our first home game in a while on the Pit Field (6.30pm). It should be played in great condition on what is forecast to be a lovely evening for rugby.
“We welcome a Lowca side riding high on confidence and we will be in for a very tough game.
“That said our training has gone well this week on the back of an outstanding performance gfrom the first team last week and we look forward to show-vasing our strength in depth following a number of injuries that have occurred this week.
“We had three of our open age players injured in the Under-18s game on Wednesday and we wish Corey, Arben and Josh a speedy recovery.”
Lee Allen, the Lowca coach had seen his side put-up a great battle with Wath Brow in the League last week and he added: “It should be another tough, close game between two young teams who like to play good rugby.”
Earlier this week Lowca’s Under-18s had a big win over their Kells counterparts.
One quarter final tie had been played on the original date at Silloth rugby union club when Aspatria got the better of Cockermouth Titans.
There’s also a League game re-arranged for tomorrow and will see Askam hosting Flimby in south Cumbria.
Askam coach Chris Broadley said: “We were so pleased to get the monkey off our backs last week with the first win. We want to go on and build on that although there are things to improve on which we have been working at.
“There are some fitness concerns over Rob Cockayne and Dale Lambton after last week’s Keswick to Barrow event but we have over 20 players to pick from.”
For Flimby, Ricky Morrison said: “We are going into the Askam game looking to improve from our last outing. We have had big numbers training this week as it’s our first away trip since reforming with over 50 supporters travelling with us on a coach to back us.
“We are expecting a tough encounter from the first whistle. Darren Pape has made a return to the Vikings to help the young lads and will be a good asset for us on Saturday.
“Ben Harrison, one of our seasoned forwards, will keep the lads right in the middle of the park and I’m sure it’s going to be a good game of rugby.”
