Bookies tip Oldham for title glory

TONY Benson is cautious about the new season.

OLDHAM Roughyeds have been installed as the bookies' favourites to finally end five years of pain and finish top of Co-operative Championship One this season.

But while Tony Benson's men are viewed as front-runners by the odds-layers — in front even of well-equipped clubs like Keighley, Swinton and Workington — the coach himself is far more cautious.

The league campaign begins this Sunday with a home clash with Gateshead at the Whitebank Stadium (3pm kick-off).

Despite impressively seeing off Hunslet in the first Northern Rail Cup pool game of the year, subsequent losses to Halifax, Swinton and Whitehaven and a narrow 28-16 victory over amateurs Hunslet Warriors in the Carnegie Challenge Cup have dampened spirits a little.

Benson says the team's current lack of cohesion on the pitch is down to one main factor — the absence of an available pitch to practice on.

"I don't honestly think we are at the same point as we have been in the last couple of seasons," admitted Benson, now in his third season with the club having taken the team to successive play-off finals.

"Looking at our squad of 21 players, half of them are new faces.

"It has been difficult behind the scenes as we haven't been able to train on a field because none have been available for us.

"Whitebank hasn't been an option because the condition of the pitch has been poor due to the weather.

"We have been restricted to using a 3-G pitch which has been limiting. Though we have been able to do some defensive work, we can't run through sets like we want to which is a shame.

"We are a bit behind in that sense, but hopefully now the weather is picking up things will improve."

Former Leigh and London Skolars coach Benson feels that his squad will need to consistently out-perform sides with bigger resources once again if top-spot is to be a realistic goal.

To achieve that, he is determined to put in the graft on the training ground to put right what has so far gone wrong for the Roughyeds.

"If you look back at the last couple of years, you can see that to win the title you can't afford to lose more than a couple of games a season," he added.

"What we have had to do in the past couple of seasons to stay up there is play above ourselves on a shoe-string budget, week-in and week-out.

"For the first few rounds we are now going to be without Marcus St Hilaire, Lucas Onyango and John Gillam so that leaves our small squad very stretched.

"I understand the work that we need to do and the time pressure that is on us to do it."

Title odds (from Skybet) —

Oldham 11-8, Keighley 11-4, Swinton 10-3, Workington 10-1, Rochdale 12-1, Doncaster 16-1, Whitehaven 20-1, South Wales 33-1, London Skolars 50-1, Gateshead 100-1.


THE Roughyeds' Supporters' Association (ORSA) has appointed an interim management committee to look after association affairs until it has its annual meeting at which a new committee will be elected.
Nigel Marland (chairman), Paul Whalley (secretary/treasurer), Maureen Woodhead and John Davies make up the four-strong committee.