Benson waits on injured duo

OLDHAM remain on the heels of Co-operative Championship One leaders Dewsbury following the hard-fought victory over Hunslet which was achieved despite the loss of experienced front row man Paul Highton.

The ground-out 22-16 victory over the Hawks — who would have pulled level on points with the home side in the table had they pulled off a win by a margin of more than 12 at Boundary Park — leaves Tony Benson’s men two points behind the Rams having played a game more.

Oldham make the short journey to take on Swinton at Sedgley Park on Sunday, and the preparations for that clash will include checking on a number of injured parties, including vice-captain Highton and Danny Halliwell, who hobbled off the pitch late in the game yesterday.

“Danny got a bang to his knee,” said Benson, who confirmed that late call-up Wayne Kerr had suffered no adverse reaction to his knee injury which had initially ruled him out of contention.

“Paul (Highton) pulled up at training on Saturday with a calf injury which has been ongoing but suddenly got worse, so he had to withdraw very late. It didn’t disrupt us too much, though.”

Marcus St Hilaire, the Roughyeds top performer against Hunslet, was also struggling in the latter stages having been troubled in the build-up to the game with a hamstring injury.

Elsewhere in Championship One, London Skolars ended a run of 17 consecutive defeats by claiming a 24-18 win at Workington, while in the Championship leaders Halifax fell to a first league defeat of the year, going down 40-26 at home to Sheffield Eagles.

o OLDHAM’S reserves were beaten 36-6 at Hunslet on Friday night.

Todd O’Brien scored the team’s only try, converted by Mark Smith, in a game in which the Roughyeds found themselves 24-0 down at half-time.

First-team squad members Anthony Bingham, Luke Menzies, Craig Robinson and Mark Smith all played at the South Leeds Stadium.