Pride Preview – Oldham RLFC

MATCH INFORMATION:

OLDHAM RLFC v KEIGHLEY COUGARS
BETFRED LEAGUE 1 ROUND ONE
SUNDAY 27^TH MARCH 2022 – 3PM KICK OFF
VESTACARE STADIUM
REFEREE – MR JAMES VELLA (ST GEORGE)

LAST TIME OUT:

The Keighley Cougars were defeated 22-42 on home soil by promotion favourites Swinton Lions in their final friendly ahead of the new season.

A disastrous start to the afternoon saw the Cougars fall behind by 8 points inside the game’s opening four minutes after tries from Dan Abram and Max Roberts.

Mo Agoro halved the deficit, but the Lions extended their lead through an effort from Luke Waterworth.

Clever work out the scrum from James Feather moved the Cougars within a converted try of their visitors but Swinton took a comfortable lead into half-time after tries from Richard Lepori and Lewis Hatton.

Lepori grabbed his second of the afternoon shortly after the break, but Keighley’s hopes flickered through a score from Nathan Roebuck.

Jack Hansen would seal Swinton’s victory, taking advantage of a fumble from Charlie Graham, but the final say would go to Keighley as Matthew Bailey crashed over from a James Feather pass.

Oldham RLFC recovered from their shock Challenge Cup exit to Lock Lane to defeat the Cougars 26-34 in a friendly match at Cougar Park.

A bright start saw the home side take a 12-0 lead through tries from both halves, Jack Miller and Alix Stephenson.

However, the Roughyeds would fight back and level the scoreboard as Brad Jinks and Owen Restall crossed after periods of sustained pressure.

Keighley would have the advantage at the interval however, Charlie Graham the scorer with a diving in effort in the corner.

With Brenden Santi in the sin bin, Oldham made the most of the numbers advantage to score through Tommy Brierley.

A Josh Slingsby effort would restore the Cougars lead, but two quickfire tries in the corners from Brierley and Liam Copland moved the Roughyeds clear on the scoreboard.

The boot of Martyn Ridyard made the lead a bit more comfortable, however Aidan Scully powered through an attempted tackle set up a grandstand finish.

Ridyard though would prove the difference, as the final hooter sounded the veteran half turned through a challenge to squeeze over and seal victory for Oldham.

TEAM NEWS:

Head Coach Rhys Lovegrove has named a 21-man squad for the trip to Oldham that only brings two changes from the side that he fielded a fortnight ago.

Chris Cullimore and Keenan Dyer-Dixon come into the side that was defeated by Swinton in the final friendly ahead of the new season.

James Feather is expected to make his 349^th appearance for the club, taking him within one game of the 350 mark in Cougars colours.

Josh Lynam (Knee) is ruled out through the injury he sustained against the Lions and is one of eleven players unavailable for selection, hampering the options available to Lovegrove.

COUGARS: Agoro; Bailey; Cullimore; Darley; Desmond-Walker; Dyer-Dixon; Feather; Graham; Ho; Kesik; Levy; Miller; Murrell; Nettleton; Roebuck; Santi; Scully; Spence; Stephenson; Webster; Young.

Oldham Head Coach Stuart Littler has named a changed 21-man squad from the side that were defeated in their last competitive match in January.

Brad Jinks, Callum Cameron, and Kian Morgan all come into the side after missing that defeat to Lock Lane.

They take the places of David Mills and the injured pair of ex-Cougar Jason Muranka (Head) and Sean Slater (Knee).

Jordan Andrade, who played against Lock Lane but missed the friendly earlier this month against Keighley, returns for the League 1 opener.

OLDHAM: Andrade; Brierley; Cameron; Cooke; Copland; Coventry; Ferry; Hartley; Hewitt; Holcroft; Jinks; Morgan; Nelmes; Newton; Restall; Ridyard; Spencer; Thornton; Wellington; Whittel; Wright.

VIEW FROM THE SHEDS:

KEIGHLEY COUGARS HEAD COACH RHYS LOVEGROVE: “That game earlier in March gave us the chance to see how we’d shape up against top opposition.

“It will be good to play them again because they set the bar high for us three weeks ago, and that showed which of our boys could compete at that level.

“But it’ll still be early days on Sunday, round one, so we’ll just focus on ourselves, work hard for each other, concentrate on all the small things we need to, and take it each week at a time.”

Rhys Lovegrove quotes courtesy of the Keighley News

OLDHAM RLFC HEAD COACH STUART LITTLER: “The boys are ready to go. It’s been a long, long off-season, but we have some real quality in there.

“We ran the rule over each other in the warm-up game at their place, but there were a lot of changes made during the game and you couldn’t read too much into it, although it was good to win.

“We’ll certainly need to turn up on Sunday, although we are under no illusions about what we’ll have to do to win.

“We are all itching to get started and we look forward to our opening league game and what we hope will be a good crowd to give the boys all the support they deserve.”

Stuart Littler quotes courtesy of Oldham RLFC

THE WHISTLE BLOWER:

This Sunday’s game will be officiated by 30-year-old James Vella from the St George Referees Society in Sydney, Australia.

This will be the first time Vella has ever officiated the Cougars having only arrived in the UK from down under ahead of the Covid cancelled 2020 season.

Born and raised in Sydney, James began refereeing with the St George society for a number of years in Australia before moving to the northern hemisphere.

Impressing quickly with his refereeing performances at Championship level following his arrival and officiated in the 2020 Super League play-offs following the restart after the pandemic.

He was rewarded by the RFL for his efforts following the conclusion of last season with promotion to the full-time referee squad for 2022.

James will be assisted by touch judges Clint Sharrad (Manchester) and Lewis O’Brien (Widnes), with Aaryn Belafonte-Golding (Huddersfield) the reserve referee.

THE LAST TIME WE MET:

Oldham RLFC recovered from their shock Challenge Cup exit to Lock Lane in January to defeat the Cougars 26-34 in a friendly match at Cougar Park earlier this month.

A bright start saw the home side take a 12-0 lead through tries from both halves, Jack Miller and Alix Stephenson.

However, the Roughyeds would fight back and level the scoreboard as Brad Jinks and Owen Restall crossed after periods of sustained pressure.

Keighley would have the advantage at the interval however, Charlie Graham the scorer with a diving in effort in the corner.

With Brenden Santi in the sin bin, Oldham made the most of the numbers advantage to score through Tommy Brierley.

A Josh Slingsby effort would restore the Cougars lead, but two quickfire tries in the corners from Brierley and Liam Copland moved the Roughyeds clear on the scoreboard.

The boot of Martyn Ridyard made the lead a bit more comfortable, however Aidan Scully powered through an attempted tackle set up a grandstand finish.

Ridyard though would prove the difference, as the final hooter sounded the veteran half turned through a challenge to squeeze over and seal victory for Oldham.

TICKETS:

Tickets for Sunday’s game at Vestacare Stadium are on sale NOW and available to buy online.

Tickets are priced at £15 for Adults, £13 for Concessions, £4 for Students, and FREE for Children.

There is also a pay on the day option for supporters who do not wish to purchase tickets in advance of travelling to Sunday’s fixture.

There is also a special mother’s day offer at Whitebank on Sunday with all mums receiving a flower from Roary Roughyed and being entered into a free raffle upon entry to the ground.

To purchase your tickets in advance of arriving on Sunday, please click HERE