Whitehaven Preview

Bears Cumbrian travels, part 1: Whitehaven.

By Mike Hyde

On Sunday, the Bears had a home game scheduled against Whitehaven, but work on the Butts Park pitch and the lack of alternatives has led to that fixture being 'reversed'.

This means the home game against Whitehaven will now take place in September when the away game was originally scheduled, and the away fixture is brought forward.

It also means that the Bears face two trips to Cumbria on consecutive Sundays, quite a distance to travel!!

Both are tough fixtures, away from home in a hotbed of the game after a long motorway journey, but this is the tougher one as 'Haven' currently sit at the top of the League 1 table.

They are keen to return to the Championship, from which they were relegated.

In the first encounter between the two sides in 2017, Whitehaven won on their own ground 44-12.

Coincidentally, the following season the Bears played them at home and the score was the same, 12-44.

However in 2018's away fixture, a much improved Bears side ran the Cumbrian close, with a final score of 24-20, illustrating the improvements and potential of Tom Tsang's side.

Whitehaven go into the game as favourites, but the Bears are well capable of causing an upset against any team in the league...........