Young guns in cup bow

OLDHAM will set out to claim the Law Cup against Hornets RL on Sunday for the first time in six years.

And two of the Roughyeds’ many new youngsters, Ben Mellor and Joe Chandler, will make their debuts at Spotland (3pm kick-off).

Prop-forward Mellor (20) has spent the last four years as a young pro with Super League outfit Warrington Wolves, while back-row man Chandler (21) has served a similar apprenticeship with Leeds Rhinos.

Coach Tony Benson said: “Joe is one of a few young forwards whom I am eagerly looking forward to seeing in action in Oldham colours.

“Ben Mellor is another, as is Ben Marsden, but Marsden is having treatment for a shoulder injury so he won’t be involved on Sunday.”

Mellor and Chandler are named in a 19-man squad which also includes for the first time this season the hugely-experienced Neil Roden at outside half.

Not since the 2004 season has the famous trophy been hoisted aloft by a Roughyeds captain, despite Oldham’s recent superiority over near-neighbours now known officially as Hornets RL.

This game is Oldham’s third pre-season friendly in eight days, following up the 54-16 reverse at Batley and a 40-20 loss at Whitehaven on Wednesday night.

Benson is using all three matches as a testing ground for his new recruits ahead of the start of the Northern Rail Cup competition, which opens with a difficult away match against Leigh on Sunday, January 31.

Squads for Sunday’s Law Cup game —

Oldham (from): Ashe, Bentley, Boults, Brocklehurst, Chandler, Clarke, Ellison, Fogerty, Gillam, Graves, Heaton, Kerr, Littler, Mansfield, Mellor, Onyango, N Roden, Ward, Whitmore.

Hornets (from): Bloomfield; Johnson, Gorton, Hobson, Saywell; Donoghue, Duffy; Raftery, Roper, Cookson, Corcoran, Hatton, Hough, Fagborun, Wood, Hayes, Ashall, English, Crook.