Coventry Bears V Oxford RLFC
Good Friday, 3pm kick off at the Butts Park Arena
‘We must win on Friday’
‘We are at home against a side we beat twice last year. But we are under no illusions that it will be easy - we will have to be at our best to get a result’ said Bears Head Coach Tom Tsang ahead of the home Easter clash against Oxford.
This follows a disappointing run of four consecutive league defeats at the start of the season, the latest being a 44-12 defeat at Whitehaven last weekend, but yet again there were positives as well as negatives to take from that game, as Tom explained;
‘The scoreline against Whitehaven really doesn’t tell the story of the game. For at least 60 minutes of the match we were our opposition's equal, but again lapses in concentration while defending cost us.
Whitehaven are a quality side having been relegated from championship last year and are looking for immediate promotion and they along with most other sides in the league will punish you for those errors.’
So, once again the Bears need to regroup and face their rivals from down the M40. Last year Coventry beat Oxford twice, home and away. The two sides have already clashed this season, although that was in a warm-up cup game at Abingdon, Oxfords base where the hosts narrowly edged the Bears 30-28, with the Bears fielding a number of new players.
‘Oxford need to be given a huge amount of praise for the way they have started the season beating a number of more fancied teams, not just us.’
‘But we will continue to focus on fixing those areas in defence, as our attack continues to improve game by game as the new combinations gel’ added Tom on a positive note as he ended the interview.
Richie Hughes, the Bears former captain who has returned to the club as player and with coaching duties could be set to play his first full game.
Coventry Bears v Oxford. Kick off 3pm Good Friday 14th April at the Butts Park Arena.
Adults £12, Concessions £10, Youth £5, Under 12's free
Bears Head Coach Tom Tsang