Match Preview: Oldham vs Orrell St James

Oldham host Orrell St James this Sunday afternoon in the second round of the Challenge Cup, where a victory at Bower Fold would secure another home tie against either Dewsbury or West Hull.

Roughyeds put in a solid showing in their first outing of 2026, comfortably beating Salford 44-0 in which there were eight different try scorers, and will be looking for another win ahead of a big away trip to London Broncos.

Team News

Director of rugby Mike Ford has made just one change to the 21-man squad which was announced ahead of last weekend’s Championship opener.

New recruit Ewan Moore could be set to make his Roughyeds debut, with him replacing Adam Milner who misses out this week.

Emmanuel Waine and Matty Russell are not quite ready for selection while Iain Thornley remains in recovery, following his ACL reconstruction.

Assistant boss Alan Kilshaw previewed this Sunday’s game on Roughyeds TV here.

Squad in full: 1. Jack Walker, 2. Kieran Dixon, 3. Ben O’Keefe, 4. Ben Davies, 5. Jake Bibby, 6. Morgan Smith, 7. Riley Dean, 8. Jack Ormondroyd, 9. Matty Wildie, 10. Owen Farnworth, 11. Matty Ashurst, 12. Ryan Lannon, 14. Cole Geyer, 15. Ted Chapelhow, 16. Ewan Moore, 18. Jaron Purcell, 19. Harvey Makin, 21. Tom Nisbet, 23. Josh Drinkwater, 24. Marcus Geener, 25. Sam Littler.

Bower Fold

Sunday’s game will take place at the home of Stalybridge Celtic. For supporters who use public transport, Roughyeds are running a special matchday bus.

Tickets for the bus can be bought via the club’s online shop here. The bus will pick up supporters from the Fox and Pine pub on Greaves Street at 12:15pm for arrival at Bower Fold at 1pm.

The bus will leave the ground at approximately 17:30pm for return to the Fox and Pine pub, with tickets priced at £6.

Tickets are unreserved for Sunday’s game with the option of sitting or standing. There are over 1000 seats in the two stands, with an overall capacity of 6500.

Turnstiles will be open from 12:30pm, and supporters are encouraged to take advantage of the facilities in the Grays Lounge fans bar.

There are an array of food and drink options with a wide range of spirits and draught beers on sale in the bar. Draught beers available are: Carlsberg, Guinness, Poretti, Brooklyn IPA, Somersby Cider and Wainwright. As well as drinks, there will be pies, hotdogs, chips and burgers for sale.

For those who have purchased hospitality, pre-match pie and peas meals will be served in the Celtic Social Lounge from 1pm. Fans have access to a bar in the Lounge, serving the same refreshments listed above, as well as the pre and post-match presentations hosted by Michael Bradshaw.

The Hospitality lounge is accessed by the door shown above.

With all car parking spaces sold out, only those who have purchased a ticket will be able to access the car park. Supporters with tickets need to present their order confirmation as proof of ticket.

Roughyeds are grateful to everybody at Bower Fold for their hospitality and hope supporters enjoy their stay at the ground.

The Opposition

Orrell St James head to Bower Fold having secured a big win over local amateur side Oldham St Annes.

The Wigan amateur side had a successful season last year, having secured a historic treble of trophies with the North West Men’s League Premier Division title, League Leaders’ Shield and the NWML Cup.

Tickets and access

Ticket prices are as follows, and there will be no price increases on the day.

Adult £15
Concession £10
Wheelchair Accessible £10
Under 18 £5
Under 12 Free

Hospitality tickets are still available and can be purchased on our ticketing site.

For disabled/carer tickets, supporters are required to email kasey.smith@roughyeds.co.uk.

Both card and cash payments will be accepted at the turnstiles for those supporters wishing to pay on the day.

Fans can secure their place at Bower Fold, ahead of the game, buy purchasing tickets here.

Merchandise

Please note that we will not be taking our mobile shop to Bower Fold this weekend. The only place to purchase our 2026 Roughyeds range is via our online shop here.

Media coverage

If you are unable to make the trip then don't worry - we will do our best to bring you the best possible coverage from our media team.

We will have our exclusive live audio-only commentary on our Roughyeds TV YouTube page from 3pm with Matt Horton in the hotseat this week with George off. Make sure you are following all of our social channels for immediate reaction.

Please subscribe, follow, like, comment, share and engage with our media content that we are so proud to have to rival any throughout rugby league - it all helps with our IMG score too.

We can't wait to see you with us at Bower Fold on Sunday afternoon - Let’s hear the Roughyed Roar!