All Systons go for the Cup

Whitchurch will have to upset the form book this weekend if they are to progress any further in the EDF Energy Intermediate Cup.

The Reds travel to face Midlands 2 East leaders Syston in Leicestershire in what is sure to prove a difficult second round tie.

Syston have been in magnificent form this year, winning all nine of their league games, while the north Shropshire side have lost two of their last three in Midlands 2 West.

"We had a reasonable run in the competition last year and got through three or four rounds before we went out to Dunstablians," recalled president John Gregory."This one is a bit of a trip into the unknown to us as we don't really know how their league compares to ours. We'll just have to see on the day."

Whitchurch have a number of injury doubts to contend with, including Chris Hares, who suffered a dead leg in last Saturday's defeat at Walsall.

Newport will be following their Shropshire rivals to Leicestershire for a clash with Syston's Midlands 2 East neighbours Paviors.

The Fishes are without three key players, notably Chris Gibbons, who will be in America for the rest of the season on business.

George Armitage and Craig Ingram are also unavailable, but director of rugby Ray Price is confident they have high quality replacements to come in.

Promotion

Ingram's spot is taken by Phil Rogers, while Simon Holland replaces Gibbons and Fijian Junior Thomas comes in for Armitage.

Price admits his Midlands One side will have to be wary of Paviors, who are pushing for promotion.

"They're a good side, apparently," he said. "They've had a pretty good start to the season and, even though they've slipped a little bit in the last two or three weeks, we can't take them lightly.

"We have to perform well, but if we play like we did last weekend (in a 38-19 win over Bedford Athletic) then we'll be confident of coming away with a good result."

Luctonians will start favourites to go through to the third round of the cup when they take on Banbury.

Banbury are struggling near the bottom of Midlands 2 East, but Luctonians will have to be on their guard against the underdogs.

"They are struggling but this is a cup game and they may rise to the occasion," said spokesman Robin East

"We haven't played Banbury for several years so we will have to be prepared for the unexpected.

"Cup rugby is good financially for clubs, so we would like to make sure that we go through to the next round."