Saturday date for Hull tie

OLDHAM RL Club’s fourth-round Carnegie Challenge Cup tie at Hull will be played at the KC Stadium on Saturday, May 7, with a 1pm kick-off.
Hull’s army of season-ticket holders — nearly 9,000 of them — will get in free, as did Oldham’s to the third-round tie against amateurs Hunslet Warriors at the Whitebank Stadium.

To compensate for that arrangement, driven by the Rugby Football League in a move to boost attendances in early rounds, Roughyeds will get a fixed participation fee on top of their half share of match-day receipts after Hull have taken out their expenses. Oldham’s junior season-ticket holders will also get free admission.

Ticket prices, still under discussion by both clubs, will be announced soon.

Explaining the decision to play on the Saturday, as opposed to Friday night or Sunday, Oldham chairman Chris Hamilton said it was a decision of both clubs, made in joint talks.

He said: “It was the best time for all concerned, taking into account stadium availability and other factors.

“Friday night was out because of problems associated with our players taking time off work and then getting over there.

“We’ve fixed the kick-off time to avoid clashing with the televised tie and we’re hoping fans of both clubs will turn out in force.

“It will be a big day out for the Oldham club.”

A Hull spokesman said the Saturday tie would provide the optimum recovery and preparation time for Hull’s Super League fixtures either side of the cup weekend.

Roughyeds have six league games before they head for Hull, starting with Sunday’s visit of a strong Swinton Lions side (3pm kick off).

Coach Tony Benson is monitoring the progress of Martin Roden (hamstring), Marcus St Hilaire (hamstring), Matthew Fogarty (knee) and Ben Heaton (tonsillitis) before selecting his side.

Prop Tom Wood-Hulme, who scored two tries for the reserves last Saturday, could also be back in contention.

The reserves are at home again on Saturday against Keighley Cougars (2.30pm kick off).

The senior squad is down to 23 following the departures of Johnny Walker and Matty Ashe. In addition, Tom Woodcock hasn’t been seen since the early days of pre-season training.

The club says Walker has been absent for a few weeks and it has not been able to contact him, while Ashe has decided he doesn’t want to play any more.