Oldham to start against Hornets

GO ONE BETTER: Oldham coach Scott Naylor (centre) is aiming for promotion.

OLDHAM RL Club kick off the new Kingstone Press League One campaign in 2015 with a derby clash against Rochdale Hornets at Spotland on Good Friday, April 3.

The season starts in March, which has been set aside for the new League One Cup and the Challenge Cup. Once the 22-game league programme is up and running in April there is a fixture almost every weekend until mid-September.

In previous seasons fans have been unhappy about the number of blank Sundays. Last year there were six but this time there are only two - each of which accommodates two of the sport’s major attractions, the new ‘Summer Bash’ at Blackpool and the Challenge Cup final at Wembley.

Roughyeds will have derby games at Whitebank against Rochdale and Swinton Lions as well as attractive home fixtures against the other teams who were in the Championship last season — North Wales Crusaders, Keighley Cougars and Barrow Raiders.

There are 14 teams in the restructured third-tier competition, including newcomers Coventry Bears, who provide the opposition for Oldham’s first home league game on Sunday, April 12.

Each of the 11 league games at Whitebank are on Sundays with 3pm kick-offs.

Two promotion spots are up for grabs. At the end of the regular season, the top two will play each other and the winners will go up as champions. The losers will go into a play-off with teams finishing third, fourth and fifth for the right to earn the second promotion spot.