A SCHEDULED curtain-raiser at the Vestacare Stadium today (Sunday), featuring John Power’s Waterhead under-7s and Limehurst Lions under-7s, has been called off by the Lions, so the action doesn’t start until 3pm when Oldham play in-form Doncaster in Betfred League One.
Last week the under-9s of Higginshaw and Saddleworth Rangers enjoyed a similar experience and we have since had a positive feedback from parents about how much their boys and girls enjoyed it.
Turnstiles open at 1pm, ahead of the Oldham v Doncaster game, and admission prices are as follows though its FREE admission for under-16s who wish to stand.
Prices:
(£1 extra for a seat):
Adults, £15; concessions, £13; students (with ID) £4; under-16s, FREE to stand.
The match ball will be presented to the referee by a representative of The Team Hill Charitable Trust, a charity set up to ‘make a difference’ by raising money, inspiring others and supporting local good causes.
Steve Hill himself will be in the hospitality suite on a table organised by club ambassador and former player Adrian Alexander and his wife Ginny, a former mayor of the borough.
Before turning pro for OLDHAM with his pal and fellow Londoner Bob Mordell, Adrian was a rising star in Rugby Union. He captained Harlequins; won a Middlesex cap; played in three Middlesex Championship Finals; played in a team that won the Middlesex Sevens by the highest-ever score; played for England under-23s; was called up into the full England squad; and played for the Barbarians.
He settled in Oldham, married Ginny, and served the local community for many years on Oldham Council, as did Ginny, who took to Facebook to talk of sport as a vehicle for building discipline and friendship. She urged her fellow Oldhamers to support Roughyeds and wrote:
“Oldham RLFC is important to the people and the families of this borough and we want to make it proud again.
“Sport can unite people of all different backgrounds and bring some discipline into the lives of young and old alike.
“Together we can build a lifetime of friendships.”
The Oldham v Doncaster game will be sponsored by Baimbridge Flooring Ltd, which serves the whole of Greater Manchester, with a branch in Ashton and a showroom in Stockport.
Andrew Baimbridge, a director, will be in hospitality together with, among others, the official Doncaster party led by Carl Hall and a large group from our Players’ Association, including Geoff Munro and Terry Ogden, who will receive their Heritage certificates during a half-time presentation on the pitch.
Ray Hicks, Mike Elliott, David Walker and Adrian Alexander, who have already been presented with certificates, will be re-presented with them on the pitch.
Also in the Players’ Association Group in hospitality will be Tony Finan, John Watkins and Association secretary Joe Warburton.
The 21-man squads are as follows:
OLDHAM: Andrade, Butterworth, Cameron, Carr, Copland, Coventry, Field, Hartley, Morgan, Muranka, Nelmes. Newton. Openshaw, Restall, Ridyard, Slater, Spencer, Wellington, Whittel, Windrow, Yarrow.
DONCASTER: Buns, Cockayne, Corion, Fella, Foster, Halliday, Holdstock, Howe, Johnston, McConnell, Ollett-Hobson, Petersen, Roberts, Robinson, Ruan, Smeaton, Storey, Tali, Taulapapa, Whitmore, York.
Watson Boas, Doncaster’s talented PNG international scrum-half, is rested after playing a star role in their win at Cornwall last week.
They are unlikely to make many other changes in a side that lined up like this to pick up the Dons’ fifth win in a row:
Robinson; Halliday, Storey, Tali, Corion; Johnston, Boas; Fella, Burns, Foster, Ollett-Hobson, Smeaton, McConnell. Subs: Cockayne, Petersen, Roberts, Ruan.
