Holiday clash with Hornets

SCOTT Naylor

OLDHAM face a Bank Holiday Monday showdown with fierce rivals Rochdale Hornets in the Kingstone Press Championship Shield.

Scott Naylor's men go to the Crown Oil Arena on August 28 for round four of seven crucial matches.

The Roughyeds' record against Hornets in 2017 is poor. After losing the Law Cup tie, Oldham were held to a dramatic draw at Rochdale, lost after a second-half collapse in the Summer Bash tussle in Blackpool and were beaten at Bower Fold in the finalfixture of the regular season.

While Oldham knew their opponents on the opening day of the Shield campaign - they play Sheffield Eagles at the Beaumont Legal Stadium on Sunday - the Rugby Football League did not release the remainder of the programme until last night.

Round two sees Oldham, who are second-bottom in the table, host Bradford Bulls, who they have already beaten at Bower Fold this season, on August 13.

They visit Batley Bulldogs a week later, before heading to Rochdale.

Oldham welcome Toulouse Olympique on September 3 and hit the road to Swinton on September 10.

Dewsbury Rams are the visitors on September 17 for the finale.

Two clubs go down from the Championship, and Oldham chairman Chris Hamilton said: "We know the job we've got to do - we've got to get stuck in and get on with it."

Meanwhile, Oldham return to a revamped Whitebank tonight to start preparations for this weekend's game against Sheffield.

The players will be put through their paces on the newly-laid 3G surface.

Oldham have used OASIS Academy as their training base since it opened.

Kingstone Press Championship Shield Super 8s (all kick-offs 3pm unless stated) -

Round one - Sunday, August 6: Batley Bulldogs v Swinton Lions; Bradford Bulls v Toulouse Olympique; Dewsbury Rams v Rochdale Hornets; Sheffield Eagles v OLDHAM RLFC.

Round two - Sunday, August 13: Dewsbury Rams v Toulouse Olympique (3pm); OLDHAM v Bradford Bulls; Rochdale Hornets V Batley Bulldogs; Swinton Lions v Sheffield Eagles;

Round three - Saturday, August 19: Toulouse Olympique v Rochdale Hornets (8pm). Sunday, August 20: Batley Bulldogs v OLDHAM; Sheffield Eagles v Dewsbury Rams; Swinton Lions v Bradford Bulls.

Round four - Monday, August 28: Bradford Bulls v Batley Bulldogs; Dewsbury Rams v Swinton Lions; Rochdale Hornets v OLDHAM; Toulouse Olympique V Sheffield Eagles (8pm).

Round five - Sunday, September 3: Batley Bulldogs v Dewsbury Rams; OLDHAM v Toulouse Olympique; Rochdale Hornets v Swinton Lions; Sheffield Eagles v Bradford Bulls.

Round six - Saturday, September 9: Toulouse Olympique v Batley Bulldogs (4pm). Sunday, September 10: Dewsbury Rams v Bradford Bulls; Sheffield Eagles v Rochdale Hornets; Swinton Lions v OLDHAM.

Round seven - Saturday, September 16: Toulouse Olympique v Swinton Lions (3pm). Sunday, September 17: Batley Bulldogs v Sheffield Eagles; Bradford Bulls v Rochdale Hornets; OLDHAM v Dewsbury Rams.