COVENTRY Bears come to the Vestacare Stadium on Sunday buoyed by a terrific 41-30 win at home against Workington Town, one of the pre-match favourites for promotion.

Having recently parted company with Leon Pryce as head coach and appointed Chris Thorman as his successor, the Cumbrians were anxious to kick-start their Betfred League 1 campaign after a faltering few weeks.

They went to the Midlands with a strong team which included Ryan Fieldhouse at full-back, Jamie Doran at stand-off, a front row of Oliver Wilkes, Sean Penkywicz and Fuifui MoiMoi and Danny Tickle at loose-forward.

They were in a for a shock, however, when a Coventry team of “fast, fit and well-trained young players” – their own description – stormed into a 28-8 interval lead.

At centre, the home side played Kam Pearce-Paul, who once had a brief stay on loan with Roughyeds while on loan from London Broncos.

They also fielded two Australians in man-of-the-match, scrum-half Nick Newman, and hooker Mitch Shaw, both from Queensland.

In the only other Betfred League 1 game of the weekend, London Skolars pipped North Wales Crusaders 19-18 to go joint top with Whitehaven on 11 points but with an inferior for-and-against difference.

Oldham remain fourth on eight points with the best attacking record and the third-best defensive stats.

Fans are being asked to donate tinned or long-life packaged foods to Oldham Foodbank, which will have a collection station inside the ground.