How good is it to see OLDHAM so high up in the Championship?

AFTER nine games played, including five wins and two draws, OLDHAM have 12 points in the Championship and currently sit fourth in the table, or joint third behind leaders Halifax and Barrow Raiders if you take points for and against into account.

Our latest win at Doncaster, 30-26, was not our best performance by any means but a win's a win, as the late Frank Myler used to say, and it was a crucial one on a ground where the Roughyeds have struggled consistently in recent years.

The win at the Eco-Power Stadium, where Ben Davies in the centre and Ryan Lannon off the bench both made debuts, was crucial in that it kept us up there in the top four in a highly competitive division in which there is little to choose between any of the top teams, as the current positions show with only four points splitting Halifax at the top and York Knights down in sixth place.

With third-placed Toulouse Olympique here on Saturday (5pm) and then Featherstone Rovers next up at Boundary Park in the 1895 Cup semi-final on Sunday, May 18 (2pm), when we bid to go to Wembley for the very first time in our club's great history, it was key that we won at Doncaster to keep up the momentum, especially given that we only drew at Widnes Vikings and got heavily beaten at home by Bradford Bulls, who are clearly going to be there or thereabouts in the final shake-up.

Points will clearly be at a premium in this division, and in the chase for a top-six play-off berth, so did Oldham drop a point at Widnes, or did they win one ?

The question is always asked when points are shared — that's why golden point came in at the elite level — and as we went 10-0 up in the second-half the popular belief — and certainly that of the playing staff, coaching panel, and management generally — was that we had allowed a point to slip though our fingers.

Factually, there is no doubt that Oldham deserved to win, but Vikings had their moments, too, and the fact that Widnes are superbly well established in the Championship, and are well coached by Allan Coleman, gives credence to the argument that it was a point won.

After all, had we been told before the Widnes game that we would go there and draw, I submit that we would have taken that and that it was a game we could easily have lost if Tom Gilmore had enjoyed more success with his difficult conversion attempt when Rhodri Lloyd crossed for his second try near the end.

Injury-hit Oldham were well under strength, that's true, but is it not an indication of the progress the club is making to conclude that when we played a team like Widnes at their place with an injury-hit squad we still felt disappointed with a draw ?

It was perhaps a point won after all and if you reach that conclusion, and add it to the fact that Oldham are currently FOURTH in the Championship table, it shows the importance of the win at Doncaster in terms of Saturday's visit of third-placed Toulouse, who hammered league leaders Halifax Panthers 32-0 last time out and are clearly one of, if not THE best team in the division. This very attractive game kicks off at 5pm.

Eight days later, on Sunday, May 18 to be precise, Oldham are at home again (2pm) in the 1895 Cup semi-final with the prize for the winners a trip to Wembley in early June.

In our case it would be a history-making trip to the much-revered Wembley Stadium, a real red-letter day in the history of the club and a special occasion for Oldhamers everywhere to recognise and enjoy. On a personal note, I have covered five semi-finals, the first in 1964, and we have lost the lot against Hull KR, Castleford, Warrington and Wigan twice, once at Burnden Park, no longer but once the proud home of Bolton Wanderers and once at Huddersfield.

We beat Featherstone in the league a week or two ago. Whether we can do it again to fulfil our dream is open to conjecture, but Rovers have sampled Wembley a few times down the years so maybe we'll want it more than them and ultimately that will make the difference.

Meantime, congrats and best wishes to Eloi Pelissier as well as Ben Davies and Ryan Lannon on signing to replenish an injury-hit squad and making their debuts at Doncaster; congrats too to Jumah Sambou for attracting the attention of Super league leaders Hull KR (can't wait to see him back for us soon after suspension) and sincere commiserations to centre Iain Thornley, who has learned that he will be out for the season because of injury.