OUR big clash with Swinton Lions at the Vestacare Stadium tomorrow (Sunday, June 5, kick-off 3pm) is notable for the number of players and other club personnel who will be going head to head with former mates and team colleagues.
The Lions currently have no fewer than SEVEN former Roughyeds in their squad — five of them who were here as recently as last season.
Remember centre Max Roberts, stand-off Lewis Charnock, full-back Dan Abram, hooker Matty Wilkinson and prop Jack Spencer?
Most, if not all of them, are likely to figure in the Lions’ blue and white tomorrow along with two more former Roughyeds who were with us a bit further back, namely Will Hope in the forwards and Richard Lepori in the backs.
The flip side to all this lies in the number of our people who were once Lions, headed of course by our head coach Stuart Littler, who was there for several years as player, assistant coach and then head coach.
Current Lions coach Allan Coleman was Stu’s No 2 for a while at Heywood Road and they both have connections at Leigh Miners.
They are said to be “the best of mates” but you can guarantee that mate-ship will be put on hold for at least 80 minutes tomorrow afternoon when these derby rivals go head to head in a clash that will mean a lot to both of them.
As well as the Littler connection, our vice-chairman John Roddy was once the Lions’ chairman and two of our senior players, Martyn Ridyard and Tom Spencer played for Swinton last year.
Interestingly, both Swinton full-back Abram and our very own stand-off Ridyard figure prominently in the list of Betfred League One goal-kickers, Abram joint top with Tommy Johnson of North Wales Crusaders on 5 and “Ridders” in fifth place with 35.
Both are superb marksmen and their relative performances when kicking from the tee will no doubt be significant in this intriguing derby game.
Oldham full-back Owen Restall, of course, is making a name for himself as a prolific try scorer. He is currently in joint second place with 12 — not with 11, as given in some media lists, because he scored our first try at London Skolars, which was widely given out as scored by Dave Hewitt.
Swinton have no one in the top five try scorers so read into that what you will
Littler, for one, is more interested in Oldham’s overall team performance than in personal duels between former teammates, hardly surprising in view of our below-par showing at Skolars.
He expects a big response from the players in this one and believes it will be a typical derby in which anything can happen.
He said:
“I suppose it’s a big game for so many people who have been involved with both clubs, like me, but at the end of the day it’s a Manchester derby, with all that means, and it’s about two teams, not about individuals.
“For me, it’s about the Oldham team and how we perform on the day.
“We didn’t get off the bus down in London, but there’s been a lot of tough talking this week and I expect a very different performance in this one. Actions speak louder than words.”
The 21 players he has named so far includes our latest on-loan signing, Robbie Butterworth, a 19-year-old half-back from Wakefield, who is expected to make his debut. He and Dane Windrow have grown-up together in rugby terms, first at Brighouse Rangers and then at Wakefield.
They have been good mates for years while working their way through the scholarship and academy systems at the Super League club, Dane now as a member of the Trinity first-team squad and Robbie having earned himself a place in the 2022 Trinity reserve-team squad.
Though only young, they can be expected to feed off each other tomorrow in what promises to be a thrilling game at the Vestacare Stadium.
Turnstiles open at 1pm and we have a curtain-raiser, kicking off at 1.15pm and featuring Limehurst Lions and Saddleworth under-10s. These boys and girls are our players and fans of the future. They love the game and they deserve our support. For them, don’t forget, it’s a day they will remember all their lives
Also, Roary’s Pride is to be relaunched and you can take a pic with the three World Cups which will be situated from 1.15 to kick-off just inside the ground; several reasons then for getting there early and finding your spot on the ground on a day when we expect a decent following from Swinton.
