Leigh Miners going Cup crazy

Leigh Miners Rangers are representing the community game this weekend in the Challenge Cup, when they play York City Knights at the Leigh Sports Village.

The Miners top the Premier Division of the National Conference League, and their coach, Alan Coleman, believes that they can cause an upset and reach the last 16 of the Cup.

“It’s massive for the club and the town. It’s just going crazy at the moment,” he said.

“I think we’ve sold 15 corporate boxes for the game, tickets are on sale in pubs and the phone’s been going non-stop with the press.

“Everyone apart from York wants us to win, I think they want an amateur club to be in the last 16 of the Challenge Cup– you never know, stranger things have happened!

“There’s no pressure, York are a very established side. Everyone’s saying we’ve done well to get this far but as a group with myself and the coaching staff, we feel as though we can go further.

“We’ve had a really good pre-season and we’ve played seven won seven including cup competitions.

“We’ve not lost in the league, which was a major priority of ours to make sure the Cup didn’t affect us.

“The nicest thing is that we go into Sunday’s game with a full 23-man squad to choose from. We’re feeling really confident; it’s a massive challenge for us and we’re relishing it.”

Coleman would love the opportunity to play in the next round against a Super League side, or even against Leigh Centurions.

He said: “I think the town would want the Centurions but you can’t help but look at the top teams in Super League – Wigan, Saints, Leeds and Warrington, any of those would be dreamland for my guys.”