Rams bid to bounce back from cup exit

Danny Ansell, pictured during his time with Hunslet, made his Rams debut in the cup defeat at Whitehaven having joined following a stint at Swinton Lions.

Rams coach Neil Kelly made a number of changes for the trip to Cumbria but although he felt his side had enough to progress, they slipped to a 25-18 defeat.

Kelly said: “I thought the players we went with were more than capable of winning the game and they proved that during the game, but too often we allowed Whitehaven to slow the game down with the aid of the referee.

“I think we suffered in Cumbria the way a lot of visiting teams do by not getting mentally prepared.

“I think one or two people failed to respect Whitehaven and that’s why we travelled back feeling a bit silly and humbled.

“From a coaching point of view it was quite a good exercise, but from a club point of view it’s disappointing we are out of the cup.”

Dewsbury handed Danny Ansell his debut after he joined the club until the end of the season having previously started the campaign with Swinton Lions. Ansell was part of the Wales squad at last year’s World Cup and the 26-year-old also had a spell at Hunslet having previously been with the academy set ups at Wakefield and Huddersfield.

Gareth Moore made a welcome return to the Rams’ starting line-up after spending five weeks on the sidelines with concussion suffered in the game against London Broncos.

Harry Woollard was given a first start of the season at centre, while Martyn Reilly made his second appearance of the campaign and grabbed a 17th minute try.

Despite Jack Teanby and James Glover also crossing for the Rams, with the latter adding all three goals, they bowed out and are left to focus on their Championship campaign and a tough run of matches.

Michael Knowles suffered a stomach injury in the cup defeat to Whitehaven, while Robbie Ward, Sam Day and Dom Speakman also picked up knocks during the game.

Leigh were regarded as one of the pre-season favourites but have won just one of their opening six Championship matches, although they booked a place in the Challenge Cup fifth round with victory over Batley Bulldogs last Sunday.