Goulden eyes Hornets test

TOMMY Goulden is raring to go against his former club Rochdale.

The 27-year-old second row man missed the Roughyeds’ final warm-up match at Barrow due to a mystery foot injury, similar to the one that troubled him last season.

However, while he waits on a medical appointment to get to the root of what is thought to be a tendon-related problem, he is ready and able to take to the field.

“I don’t know what the problem is to be honest,” said Goulden, a real grafter who played 30 matches in total during his first season for Oldham in 2008.

“I’m waiting to see someone about it, but I am fine to play.”

Coach Tony Benson has a wealth of options available to him in the second row, with no less than eight other players who have turned out there in pre-season — Robert Roberts, Danny Halliwell, Chris Baines, Phil Joseph, Scott Mansfield, Mark Smith, Craig Robinson and, should he recover from a back injury in time, David Allen — battling for spots for the Northern Rail Cup opener against the re-formed Hornets, who are still in the process of signing up a squad, at Boundary Park on Sunday.

“There is good competition which can’t be a bad thing,” Goulden added.

“Rochdale is always a tough game and we would never expect anything less. I have spoken to a couple of players there and they have said what has happened has happened and now they just want to get on with playing.”

With the possibility of more snow falling before the weekend, Roughyeds officials will liaise with counterparts at Oldham Athletic on the state of the Boundary Park playing surface. No pitch inspection has yet been scheduled.


OLDHAM have announced a sponsorship link-up with Lythgoe Motors of Middleton Road, which has become the first-ever official car partner of the club.

The company will provide branded vehicles for the Roughyeds’ community team as they travel across the town.

John Barker, general manager of Lythgoe Motors, said: “We are striving to get involved with the local community and this is a great starting point — a first for us as well as the club.”