O'CARROLL BRACED FOR COMPETITIVE CUP CLASH

Eamon O’Carroll is anticipating a ‘highly competitive’ Challenge Cup Third Round clash when North Wales Crusaders visit Odsal Stadium on Sunday (3:00pm kick off)!

Five-time winners Bradford go into the clash on the back of a 40-4 victory over Dewsbury Rams in the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup, where a fast start laid the platform for an impressive win. 

The Welsh outfit’s only competitive outing so far in 2024 saw them consigned to defeat by Betfred Championship Swinton Lions but head into the season on the back of a play-off final appearance last time out. 

O’Carroll has challenged his players to replicate their fast start but acknowledges the need to produce it for longer, with an experienced Crusaders side posing a tough challenge to the club’s Challenge Cup hopes.

“They will be highly competitive, I know they will be up for it and excited to come to Odsal, they have players like Patrick Ah Van who is a real competitor and a handful on his day,” said O’Carroll, who is sponsored by M & S Combustion Ltd.

“They look like they move the ball about and have Carl Forster as player/coach who is heavily involved, it’s going to be a really competitive match and we will have to be on our game. 

“We want to go far in this competition though so we will attack it the same way as we did Dewsbury and hopefully come out on the right side of the result. 

“Make no mistake, they will be coming expecting to win so we will have a tough battle on our hands but we are still focusing on ourselves, we will have to start the game as we did last week but do it for a longer period of time. 

“Sticking to our processes and the game plan is the most important message, although we posted points in the first half a lot of it came on the back of what we highlighted in the build-up to the Dewsbury game. 

“I am looking for a response from my team to see if we can stay on task in that regard, if we don’t, they will cause us some issues.”

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