Roughyeds spirit is second to none

Photo: Chris Sunderland

A JOB WELL DONE: Marcus St Hilaire (centre of group) is congratulated by his team-mates after scoring a try in Oldham’s 40-26 home victory over Blackpool

WHEN full-back Paul O’Connor scampered home from the halfway line to claim his second-half try against Blackpool the noise generated was such that if you shut your eyes, you could imagine the crowd figure being at least three times the size of that stated in the following day’s Chronicle.

An attendance of 923 spread across the main stand at last season’s rented Boundary Park home would have created a damp squib in terms of atmosphere.

Put the same number of fans around the ground at the Whitebank, close enough to feel the tremors from a succession of high-impact tackles, and it becomes something else entirely.

It may not be Wembley, but it is rapidly starting to feel like a loud, proud home.

Plenty of volunteers have invested considerable efforts in recent months towards bringing the venue up to an acceptable standard.

And the community spirit shown is currently being replicated out on the pitch.

Home-grown players — including the likes of former St Anne’s men Chris Clarke and John Gillam and ex-Waterhead duo Danny Whitmore and Mick Fogerty — have come together to form a hard-working unit that rarely knows when it is beaten.

A total of 10 wins from 12 matches in Co-operative Championship One is a superb effort at this stage of the season and one that few would have dreamed was possible following the loss of key players towards and at the end of last season.

Some media pundits — mainly, in fairness, those who consider professional rugby league outside Super League to be an anachronism — have scoffed at the Whitebank.

Roughyeds fans shouldn’t worry about that. Let them carry on laughing, while the Oldham club continues its resurgence on and off the field.