McCormack is raring to go

OLDHAM will again face the man whose employment the team effectively ended earlier this season when they travel to play Gateshead Thunder this weekend.

The north-east club have appointed Steve McCormack as their new head coach, with his duties starting tonight in preparation for the fifth-round Challenge Cup tie against the Roughyeds at the Darlington Arena on Saturday.

It was Oldham’s shock 22-20 victory over Widnes that persuaded the board to put an end McCormack’s reign at the Stobart Stadium in February.

The Scotland boss now steps in to the shoes of previous Thunder head coach Chris Hood, who becomes McCormack’s assistant.

“I feel refreshed after three months out of the game and I am raring to go,” said McCormack, whose father Jim played at centre for Oldham in the 1960s.

Oldham head into that game on the back of a record-breaking effort in defeat of London Skolars in the capital.

Coach Tony Benson professed himself well pleased at the 78-10 hammering, which brought with it three club records. Match report on Page 26.

The previous highest score achieved by Oldham RLFC (1997) Ltd came in the 70-6 victory at York Wasps at the Huntington Stadium on April 1, 2001, while the biggest winning margin by the new club was the 64-0 Challenge Cup third round home win over amateur outfit Queensbury at Boundary Park on January 28 of the same year.

Both those marks were beaten as the Roughyeds ran in 13 tries — with Andy Ballard also notching a new all-time scoring record with a pair of tries and a remarkable 13 goals from as many attempts totalling a 34-point tally in a game, beating the previous mark by four.

“It is great and we deserved that,” Benson said.

The condition of the men injured in North London will be assessed at training tonight. Danny Halliwell (ankle), Craig Robinson (ankle), Paul O’Connor (knee), Paul Reilly (knee), Wayne Kerr (knee) and Jamie I’Anson (knee) all picked up injuries during a game played out on an uneven pitch.