Match Preview: Oldham v Barrow Raiders

Oldham return to Boundary Park this weekend to face Barrow, with two big-name stars set for their Roughyeds debuts.

Oldham produced a thrilling performance away against leaders York last weekend but came up just short as the Knights staged a dramatic late fightback.

So with Super League signings Ryan Brierley and Jack Ormondroyd poised for debuts, Sean Long's men are looking to bounce back to consolidate their place in the Championship's top four.

Team News

Head coach Long throws former Salford captain Brierley and prop Ormondroyd straight into his 21-man squad for the visit of the Raiders.

You can watch their exclusive first interviews in an Oldham shirt on Roughyeds TV here.

The experienced pair join Wigan's Tom Forber in the squad as injury rules out two key Oldham men.

George Hirst suffered a hamstring injury at York and faces a spell on the sidelines. Captain Wildie suffered a head contact in the first minute which ruled him out of the game after a failed Head Injury Assessment. So Wildie is forced to miss out this week through concussion protocols.

Morgan Smith suffered a slight injury at York but played on and is included this week.

Bailey Aldridge is back in the mix, while Jack Johnson drops out of the squad as does Ben Forster.

Second row Matty Ashurst is still not quite ready to return, while captain Jordan Turner is also out.

The head coach discusses his preparations for the Hunslet game and his team selection in his latest interview with George here LINK

Zane Musgrove is suspended. Riley Dean, Iain Thornley and Jumah Sambou are out long-term.

Squad in full: 2. Kieran Dixon, 5. Mo Agoro, 8. Gil Dudson, 10. Owen Farnworth, 13. Adam Milner, 14. Bailey Aldridge, 15. Jay Chapelhow, 16. Pat Moran, 17. Elijah Taylor, 21. Lewis Baxter, 23. Josh Drinkwater, 24. Ben O'Keefe, 31. Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e, 37. Ryan Lannon, 38. Ben Davies, 39. Mathieu Pons, 40. Eloi Pelissier, 42. Morgan Smith, 00 Ryan Brierley, 00 Tom Forber, 00 Jack Ormondroyd.

The Opposition

Barrow head coach Paul Crarey will lead the teams out at Boundary Park in a milestone game for the popular boss.

Crarey will surpass the all-time record for number of games in charge as he leads his side for the 350th time.

The Raiders stunned Oldham in Cumbria with a 20-6 victory in the reverse fixture, while Oldham were comfortable winners in the 1895 Cup clash between the sides at the start of the year at Boundary Park.

Roughyeds boast a good home record against the Raiders, having won the last 19 home meetings dating back to 1981.

Barrow are 8th in the table, but just five points behind Oldham in 4th.

Match Experience

We are very proud of our Boundary Park matchday experience and there will be plenty going on this Sunday as Oldham play at home for the penultimate time in the regular season.

We will have a food van set up outside the ground, and with all car park maintenance work now complete there are plenty of spaces available.

We will have some great merchandise offers both at Athletic Store and inside Bar 1895, although unfortunately the mobile club shop will not be in attendance this week.

Inside Bar 1895 we will have live music to kick off our usual friendly atmosphere, with a fantastic variety of drinks on offer too.
Host George Riley takes over at 2pm with the all-important exclusive first read of the big-match team news, plus live interviews, photo opportunities and autographs with the Oldham stars not in the matchday 17.

Our legendary club mascot Roary the Roughyed will also be on hand to meet all our young Roughyeds fans.

It is the perfect place to meet your friends and family, have a drink before and after the game, listen to music, watch live sport on the big screens, and gain real insight from the players before and after the game.

Visiting fans from Barrow are also warmly welcomed.

Please join us in Bar 1895 after the game when new signings Ryan Brierley and Jack Ormondroyd will pop into meet their new fans. 🦁

Tickets

Tickets are the usual price of £20 for adults and £14 concessions with kids going free.

We strongly encourage fans to save £4 by purchasing their match tickets in advance as prices do rise on matchday.

This is to help us manage numbers and ensure we have the correct areas open to maximise the fan experience on matchdays, and we appreciate your understanding on this.

Click here to buy yours.

Access:

For hospitality - including pie and peas - we request you arrive by 1pm if you are eating.

For Bar 1895 - please note that fans can enter the stadium via Bar 1895, but there is no re-entry to Bar 1895 before kick-off once you are inside the stadium - so relax and enjoy the Bar 1895 entertainment before taking your seats.

Once the match has kicked off, fans will be able to access Bar 1895 from the stadium.

Other refreshments are available via the kiosks on the concourse.

Media coverage 🎙

Make sure you are following all of our social channels, on Facebook, X and Instagram, the only place to hear the first thoughts from head coach Sean Long before and after kick off on Sunday, see exclusive on-the-hooter interviews with our players at the end of the game and cast your vote for Man of the Match and much more.

We urge all of our fans to get behind this team on its exciting upward trajectory. Our aim is Super League but we need your help to get there - we need to build bigger crowds to be in the conversation.

But we also understand that not all of our fanbase can make it every week, with many of you exiled far and wide and others at work or unable to attend for medical reasons.

For that reason we are proud to bring our fans together with the usual live audio-only commentary service available via Roughyeds TV on YouTube from 3pm. We have one of the best in the business in George Riley bringing you his thrilling play-by-play commentary, and popular prop forward Ted Chapelhow will be joining George as he recovers from injury.

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 have you with us at Boundary Park on Sunday as we host Barrow ... Let’s hear the Roughyed Roar!