WE go to Doncaster tomorrow (Sunday), 3pm kick-off, for what promises to be a cracking play-off match, 3 v 4 according to final positions in the Betfred League One table.
Also tomorrow, Workington play North Wales Crusaders (5 v 6).
If we win at the Eco-Power Stadium, we next play Hunslet at the South Leeds Stadium and if we win that one we are through to the Promotion Final (Grand Final) which would be at Boundary Park, writes ROGER HALSTEAD.
If Doncaster make it four wins from four games against us this season — they’ve won the other three by two points, four points and six points respectively — we next play the winners of the Workington v North Wales Crusaders game at Boundary Park.
Win or lose at Doncaster, we’ll still be in the play-offs afterwards, but the feeling is that each of Richard Horne’s side’s three previous wins against us could easily have gone the other way so Mike Ford is realistically targeting wins at both Doncaster and Hunslet to roar into the Final on a high and to look forward to a Boundary Park showdown for the right to win promotion to the Betfred Championship.
For what was their third game in eight days, Roughyeds fielded a much-changed team last week and several players are due back tomorrow when Ford names his 17 from his 21-man squad which is:
Ah Van, Baker, Blagbrough, Cameron, Carr, Ellis, Hartley, Hirst, McNally, Meadows, Moran, Morgan, Nelmes, Newton, Paga, Rawsthorne, Ridyard, Slater, Tyrer, Whittel, Wilkinson.
Josh Johnson is suspended and Harvey Wilson has been recalled by Wigan.
That apart, several players are in the 21 who didn’t play last week, namely Jamie Ellis, George Hirst, Gregg McNally, Deane Meadows and Emmerson Whittel.
Horne’s 21 includes every member of the 17 that beat already-promoted Dewsbury 36-26 last time out, and it would be no surprise to see an unchanged team in which case they would line up like this:
Josh Guzdek; Tom Halliday, Brad Hey, Mahe Fonua, Travis Corion; Ben Johnston, Connor Robinson; Albert Vete, Greg Burns, Brad Knowles, Sam Smeaton, Brett Ferres, Loui McConnel. Subs: Keelan Foster, Alex Holdstock, Matt James, Watson Boas.
Boas scored three tries last week off the bench, crossing in minutes 51, 60 and 72.
Horne, the former Hull FC half-back, said: “Oldham will be looking for a response after their last result and I expect them to play hard and fast. We have a lot of quality and some boys on the sidelines would walk into most clubs’ starting 13. Having said that, last week’s tough game against Dewsbury was good for us . Oldham have some smart, experienced players like Ridyard, who will punish us if we don’t execute well and take our chances.”
Ford believes Oldham are among the best attackers in the division and he can back that up with statistics that show only champions Dewsbury having scored more points in the league season — 623 against 605.
Interestingly, Roughyeds scored more points than the Dons (605 against 602) and conceded fewer (333 against 352).
Not much difference admittedly, but we ARE on the better side of the stats. Couple that with the fact that previous games between these sides this season have produced wins for Doncaster as follows, 28-26, 26-22 and 28-22, and there is no reason to believe that Oldham can’t send their fans home with a Boundary Park decider still on the agenda.
Split Gate
It’s a split gate tomorrow, so its all pay as follows — adults £15, 17s and under £2. Ford has urged as many Oldham fans as possible to make the trip, not for financial reasons, but because he is of the firm opinion that the more fans we have there, loud and proud, the better will be our chances of coming home victorious.
