HAVING won at Keighley for the first time in eight visits on their last away trip, Oldham will be determined to get another monkey off their back in Sunday’s clash with Doncaster at the Keepmoat Stadium. kick-off 5.30pm.
The match will be shown live on Our League so that’s another reason for Roughyeds fans who haven’t already done so to sign up for this specialist rugby league app.
Oldham’s last win at the Keepmoat Stadium was way back in 2010 and since then they’ve lost three games on a ground which Scott Naylor believes is a great venue for rugby league.
“It’s a tough place to go, but a very nice venue with massive changing rooms and an excellent pitch,”
said the Oldham boss, adding that Doncaster’s 24-12 win at the Vestacare Stadium in the 1895 Cup last week would be “totally irrelevant.”
It was the South Yorkshire side’s fourth win in their last five games against Roughyeds, including a 46-22 triumph at what was then Whitebank in 2012 and last week’s cup win on the same ground.
Sunday’s league game will be massively important for both clubs, given that third-placed Oldham have set their sights on finishing top and Doncaster desperately need two points to keep them on track for play-offs qualification.
It’s also their last game at the Keepmoat until August with their next two home games against Whitehaven and Newcastle taking place at Featherstone.
Oldham are determined to reach the half-way point of the Betfred League 1 campaign on a high, but there are still doubts about Danny Langtree, Danny Bridge, Anthony Bowman and Zack McComb.
Of that talented quartet only Bowman played last week, while David Hewitt and Emmerson Whittel were also excluded.
Said Naylor:
“A few of the lads will be subject to late tests, but we know we can play a lot better than we did last Sunday and there will probably be some changes in the team.
“One of the good things about playing the same opponents twice on successive weekends is that if you lose the first one you get an early chance to put things right.”
The next three games will be important ones in the Roughyeds promotion ambitions — Doncaster away; Keighley Cougars at home (June 16) and Workington away (June 23).
