THE outstanding home game against Workington Town, who are now third in Betfred League One behind Dewsbury Rams and Hunslet, is proving difficult to rearrange, confirmed Mike Ford today.
The Cumbrians’ 34-16 win at Cornwall last Sunday gave them 20 points for the season so far and gave them one point more than Oldham, each from 14 games played, and the same number as Doncaster but with a better for-and-against differential.
With four games still to play, Roughyeds find themselves behind Dewsbury, Hunslet, Workington and Doncaster, but they will be hoping to climb the table again with four remaining games against Workington and Midlands Hurricanes at home and Cornwall and Rochdale Hornets away.
The Workington game will clearly be a crucial one, but Town’s only free weekend is that of the sport’s big finals day at Wembley and Town had already given their players time off.
That means a mid-week match, but that in itself poses a big problem for Oldham who have been told by Avro, said Ford, that the Vestacare Stadium cannot be available to them in mid-week because of other arrangements.
“We are now looking at other venue options,” said Ford, “and that’s why it’s taking so long.”
He also confirmed that the decision to let Joe Hartley go to London Skolars on loan was a case of ’the best laid plans of mice and men.'
He went on the shortest time allowable under loan rules — two weeks — and the idea was that Joe would play for Skolars at Rochdale last week to get in some crucial game time.
He was named in the Skolars’ 21-man squad and was due to play at the Crown Oil Arena, but the game was postponed because the pitch was too wet and holding water after a deluge at the worst possible time.
As Skolars have no game this weekend, Hartley was still without a game.
Playing on Sunday are Hunslet v Dewsbury Rams (2 v 1); North Wales Crusaders v Cornwall; Rochdale Hornets v Midlands Hurricanes; and Workington Town v Doncaster (3 v 4).
