Match Preview: Oldham v Widnes

We host Widnes at our temporary home of Sedgley Park Rugby Club in Whitefield this weekend, as Sean Long's men look to build on last week's win on the road against Halifax with a big performance against a dangerous Vikings side who beat leaders Toulouse last weekend.

Oldham had an heroic defensive effort to thank for that thrilling win at Odsal, but know Widnes will arrive with real confidence after their stunning win over the French side.

Oldham are 4th in the table, with Widnes four points further back in 9th.

Team News

Head coach Long has no fresh problems to contend with after the Halifax win and names an unchanged squad.

Mo Agoro is in contention to return after sitting out the Halifax game, while Ben O'Keefe and Elijah Taylor are named again after impressing on their returns.

You can catch Ben in our entertaining new episode of You Have the Mic! On Roughyeds TV here.

Brad Gallagher this week moved to Hunslet on a month's loan, while Adam Lawton will not feature for either side after the conclusion of his loan at Widnes.

The head coach discusses his preparations for the Widnes game and his team selection in his latest interview with George Riley here.

Zane Musgrove serves the second game of his suspension, while Riley Dean remains out injured.

Captain Jordan Turner continues to recover from a knee issue while fellow centres Iain Thornley and Jumah Sambou are out long-term.

Winger Kieran Dixon stepped up his training this week, and both he and vice-captain Matty Wildie are almost ready to return.

Squad in full: 1. Logan Astley, 5. Mo Agoro, 6. Danny Craven, 10. Owen Farnworth, 11. Matty Ashurst, 13. Adam Milner, 14. Bailey Aldridge, 15. Jay Chapelhow, 17. Elijah Taylor, 19. Ted Chapelhow, 20. Jack Johnson, 21. Lewis Baxter, 23. Josh Drinkwater, 24. Ben O'Keefe, 27. Ben Forster, 30. George Hirst, 31. Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e, 37. Ryan Lannon, 38. Ben Davies, 39. Mathieu Pons, 40. Eloi Pelissier.

The Opposition

On the face of it Widnes have struggled this season but in reality that is far from the truth. Allan Coleman's men are a dangerous side who held Oldham to a draw in the corresponding fixture over Easter, and showed their capabilities with a terrific win over Toulouse last weekend, with on-loan Roughyed Adam Lawton helping himself to a hat-trick.

Prior to that 24-4 win over Toulouse, Widnes were beaten 38-18 at home by York, and began June with a 24-24 draw with Halifax.

They have won six, lost six and drawn two of their 14 Championship games so far.

The stats also show that Widnes enjoy a decent away record against Oldham, having won their last five away meetings.

Tickets and access

As you know, this home game is having to be played at Sedgley Park Rugby Club because of a delay to the pitch maintenance work at Boundary Park which was scheduled to start at the end of the football season. This is a matter entirely out of our control that we have been working tirelessly as a team to minimise the impact of, and to make sure it works as well as possible for everybody.

Normal price tickets apply for this game and all of our season ticket holders, hospitality guests and sponsors will of course be catered for as at Boundary Park. Please book your tickets online here - remember if you pay on the day then rise by £4. This is to allow us to do our best to manage numbers.

When selecting a ticket, the club's TicketCo system is set up for Boundary Park – please just ignore this for this fixture and ignore any sections your ticket has on it.

When you arrive at the ground, all you need to do is show your ticket at the turnstiles which will be scanned as normal to gain access.
All electronic, plastic or printed tickets will scan in as normal.
Turnstiles and hospitality will be open from 1pm with our normal pie and peas VIP access options available.

There is one covered stand at Sedgley Park which can accommodate 350 people on a first come, first served basis. Please arrive early to secure your spot in the stand. The stand is accessible via a ramp as well as steps and the club will make available five wheelchair accessible seating places on the front row.

There is an inside bar, an outside bar and a food stall and fans should have everything they need for a fantastic day of rugby.

We are grateful to everyone at Sedgley Park for helping to accommodate us for this fixture in the unfortunate circumstances we were presented with in having to move the game from Boundary Park through no fault of our own.

Parking

There is loads of parking space for supporters on the three training pitches adjacent to the ground, off Phillips Park Road. Further details, and all the matchday info you need is viewable here.
Parking is £6 with both card and cash payments accepted.

Please note: There will be no public access to the smaller main car park at the venue apart from five disabled spots. These can be booked by emailing michelle.wood@roughyeds.co.uk.

Unfortunately we are not in a position to provide transport from Boundary Park to Whitefield.

Media coverage

We hope to see as many Oldham shirts as possible at Sedgley Park this weekend, but if you are unable to make the trip to Whitefield we will do our best to bring you the best possible coverage from our top team.

George will bring you live audio commentary on our Roughyeds TV You Tube page from 3pm, and 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, see exclusive on-the-hooter interviews with our players at the end of the game, watch try clips during matches and even hear from the players direct from the team coach on the journey home after the game.

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 Sedgley Park on Sunday afternoon - Let’s hear the Roughyed Roar!