COUGARS head to Rochdale, looking for revenge, this weekend with their confidence sky-high after a thrilling encounter at Oldham last week.

They came within a whisker of beating the NL1 side who only rescued victory with a last-gasp drop goal.

After the young Cougar side was given a standing ovation by travelling fans the club's Director of Rugby, Peter Row, was delighted with the commitment of his young side.

"Every member of the team gave everything out there - all 17 players showed pride at wearing the Cougar jersey.

"No one who saw their performance would be able to doubt the effort and enthusiasm shown byt the squad," he said.

For three members of the team it was almost ahome fixture, with centres Mick Fogerty and Darren Nixon, together with loose forward Terry Fitzgerald, joining the Cougars from the Oldham-based amateur club Waterhead.

"The thing I can't understand is why Oldham didn't sign them up before we did. There will certainly be a lot of Oldham fans asking how their local lads come to be playing for Cougars," he said.

Now his is looking for a similar performance when they travel to Rochdale Hornets on Sunday.

The Cougars were beaten 48-16 at home by the Hornets, but the performance at Keighley did not have the edge they showed last weekend.

"Going to Rochdale is a very tall order but the commitment is there for everyone to see and both Barry Eaton and I are taking the positives out of every game," said Roe.

"The trouble in the build up to the Rochdale game at home was that we were only able to train on the pitch once due to inclement weather. We had three sessions prior to the Oldham game and they paid dividends.

"We as we took them on without Barry in the team and only lost by one point.

"We have to remember we are playing higher division opposition in this year's Northern Rail Cup. Playing against teams of this level is good for us and I hope the fans realise this.

"The trouble at the moment is that we still have a lack of size in the forwards to bring off the bench and have an impact. When Phil Stephenson, Toby Williams and Marco Ferrazzano have done their stints it is hard to replace them."

Roe added: "Stepho was tremendous for us at Oldham as the old workhorse battled through for an hour before he came off. It is this level of commitment which will help the club to grow and prosper in weeks to come.

"Scouts are still out there every weekend looking to bring talent into the club and progress is being made. We also have to remember the players we bring into the club have to be as good as the players we already have here."

Within the next two weeks the club will be revealing the final details for a Sporting Dinner and Golf Day.

The club is also looking at the possibility of having 'theme days' on a match day and in the club's Diamond Suite during the week.