IN terms of the Roughyeds’ play-off qualification aspirations, today’s Swinton Lions derby, albeit important, pales into insignificance when compared with next Sunday’s Oldham v Hunslet crunch match at the Vestacare Stadium.
It could get complicated if Swinton were to run up a big score today, but the likelihood is that, whatever happens at Heywood Road, the winners of the all-important Oldham-Hunslet clash next Sunday, September 4, will clinch the fifth and final play-off spot alongside, in alphabetical order, Doncaster, North Wales Crusaders, Rochdale Hornets and Swinton Lions.
It’s a “biggie” all right so mark it in your diary now, Sunday, September 4, 3pm, Vestacare Stadium. Oldham v Hunslet – the last match of the regular season and one in which we hope you will “give us a try” even if you haven’t watched us all season. We need to fill the ground with as many Roughyeds fans as possible, shouting for OLDHAM, club, team and TOWN.
Having said all that, there’s nothing like a derby, us v Rochdale or us v Swinton, to get the hackles rising and to bring out the best in fans and players. Local bragging rights mean a lot to supporters and there’s bound to be an element of that in the dressing rooms too, especially when so many players are going up against their former club and their ex-teammates.
Primarily, there’s the Stu Littler connection. But what about Martyn Ridyard, Tom Spencer and even our vice-chairman, John Roddy, who was once Swinton chairman in a different life.
What isn’t widely known is that Stuart Littler and Lions boss Allan Coleman are the best of mates, not only from their time together as coach and as No 2 at Swinton, but going back long before that through their mutual connections with Leigh Miners.
Then there’s the fact that no fewer than SEVEN former Roughyeds – Dan Abram, Lewis Charnock, Will Hope, Richard Lepori, Max Roberts, Jack Spencer and Matty Wilkinson – are included in the Lions’ 22-man squad.
It’s unlikely they’ll all play, but five of them were on duty last time out when the Lions beat Hunslet 38-22 at Heywood Road with this team:
Abram; Holroyd, Lloyd, Roberts, Lepori; Else, Hansen; Brogan, Brickhill, L Hatton, Gregson, Cox, Case, Subs, Spencer, Charnock, Jones, Meadows.
Squads for today as follows:
SWINTON: Abram, Brogan, Brown, Case, Charnock, Butt, Cox, Else, Gregson, Hansen, J Hatton, L Hatton, Holroyd, Hope, Jones, Kirkbright, Lepori, Lloyd, Meadows, Roberts, J Spencer, Wilkinson.
OLDHAM: Butterworth, Cameron, Cooke, Copland, Coventry, Field, Hartley, Hewitt, Holcroft, Morgan, Muranka, Nelmes, Newton, Openshaw, Restall, Ridyard, Slater, T Spencer, Thornton, Whittel, Yarrow,
Interesting features of the Oldham squad are the return of Oliver Field, Dave Hewitt, Luke Nelmes and Johnny Openshaw and the absence of young on-loan centre Connor Carr, who is out for the remainder of the season with a broken jaw.
