Oldham Aim For Cloud Nine

PLAYERS from the participating clubs in the 2009 Northern Rail Cup Competition pose with the Northern Rail Cup at Bloomfield Road Stadium in Blackpool. Picture: Simon Wilkinson

CHAMPIONSHIP side Whitehaven are the opening Northern Rail Nines opposition for the Roughyeds this weekend, as Tony Benson aims to bag the club its first piece of silverware of the season.

The inaugural 18-team competition takes place across two days at the Woodlands, home to Fylde RUFC and Blackpool Panthers, and Oldham will have to work hard to emerge on top of a Group E section containing two Championship teams in Sheffield and Halifax.

At least two of Saturday's matches against Whitehaven (12.30pm kick off on pitch two), Featherstone (3pm, pitch one) and Workington (6pm, pitch two) will have to result in Roughyeds triumphs if top place in Group E — which grants passage to the quarter-finals of the main trophy — is to be achieved.

If Oldham manage that, they will then face the team finishing second in Group C (one of London Skolars, Leigh, Gateshead and York) in a knockout quarter-final on Sunday at 12.30pm, with the subsequent semi-final scheduled for 1.30pm.

Should they fail, the team will then enter the knockout plate competition instead, also taking place on Sunday. The draw for that is more complex and involves arranging the teams that don't qualify for the main trophy in order of their respective records in the group stage.

The finals of both the the plate (3pm) and the main trophy (3.50pm) are to be held on Sunday as curtain raisers to the Northern Rail Cup final between Barrow and Widnes at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool (5.15pm).

The rules for the nine-a-side competition are similar to regular 13-a-side rugby league with a few exceptions.

Unlimited substitutions are allowed from within a 13-man game squad containing four subs and matches last nine minutes each way with no half-time break.

Scrums feature five, as opposed to six, men from each team without the usual loose forward in place and penalties will result in a team moving 10 metres up the pitch rather than kicking for touch.

All conversion attempts will be taken via an uncontested drop-goal instead of a place kick and restarts take the form of a tap on halfway by the side that has just conceded.

Oldham officials are stressing that fans should purchase tickets for the event from the club office on Lansdowne Road.

Priced at £9 (adults) and £5 (concessions) for the full weekend, should the Roughyeds make it into either of Sunday’s finals then tickets bought from the club can be exchanged for complimentary passes enabling entry to the NRC final.

In that event, fans will need to present the Saturday section of their tickets to the ticket office at Bloomfield Road from noon onwards.

Should Oldham fail to make it to either final, NRC final upgrades can be purchased instead, subject to availability, at a cost of £5 (adults) and £2 (concessions), again on the presentation of the Saturday ticket.