The first competitive West Cumbrian Derby of the season promises to have more than bragging rights on offer as they meet in their traditional Good Friday encounter at the Recreation Ground (1.30pm.)
Both sides had been tipped by many to be near the bottom of table at the end of the season and battling relegation and they may will be right, so this fixture could be one we could look back on at the end of season.
Whitehaven just lost out in their challenge cup tie against Batley thanks to a Dom Brambani drop goal in the final minutes securing victory for the Bulldogs. There wasn’t much to separate the two side on the day and Haven could be proud of their effort as on the day they only played with 16 men and will feel if they had that extra interchange the results may have been different. Haven coach James Coyle spoke about the Derby fixture saying “Against Workington we’ve just got to concentrate on our job and do as we do in every other game and try and perform to the best of our ability. I don’t think we can get het up with the emotion of the occasion because if we do, we’ll tighten up and won’t play our own game, which will play into their hands.”
Workington lost heavily in their challenge cup tie against Leigh in a result which will have done nothing for their confidence after grabbing their first league victory the previous week against Oldham. Town’s Jarrad Sammut ripped Haven apart in their fixtures last season and he will be looking to do the same again this time round after being one of the few shining stars against Leigh. Town coach Phil Veivers spoke about the game saying “They beat us in the trial game so they have the bragging rights at the moment. They had a good win at Sheffield and a really good game at Batley in the Challenge Cup so they’ve been playing pretty good at the moment. They will be a tough nut to crack on their own ground.”
19 man squads
Whitehaven: Jouffret, Miller, Calvert, Parker, McAvoy, Aiye, Gore, Duffy, Newton, Taylor, Allen, Davies, Riley, Carberry, Brocklebank, Burns, Fox, Holliday, Lucock
Workington: J.Murphy, C.Murphy, Hulme, Mossop, Carter, Forber, Doran, Coward, Shackley, B.Phillips, Stack, McAvoy, Olstrum, Verlinden, Gordon, Ritson, Sammut, Whiteley, C.Phillips
