Roughyeds look for home lift-off

OLDHAM Roughyeds are seeking a major change in fortunes upon the return to the Whitebank Stadium on Sunday.

Unbeaten away from home for the first time in the club’s 134-year history in 2010, the on-the-road results could not be in greater contrast this term.

Tony Benson's side have lost every one of their six Co-operative Championship One clashes outside the town’s borders. The latest defeat was the deeply dispiriting 30-0 defeat at Doncaster, a game in which despite the efforts of forwards like Dave Ellison, the team never managed to get going as an attacking force.

Since then, though, the squad has pulled together behind the scenes to discuss working towards a positive end to the campaign.

The end-of-season play-offs are still within reach, with a maximum of 21 points remaining to play for.

After a five-game absence from the Whitebank Stadium during which time re-seeding has taken place, Roughyeds welcome South Wales Scorpions on Sunday (3pm kick-off) and Benson will hope that home comforts can inspire the team to better fortunes.

The Scorpions could be a tough beast to get past. Already boasting a win over Oldham this season, their 40-20 victory in Caerphilly arriving only four weeks ago, South Wales also picked up three points in the corresponding fixture last year.

Their 42-24 Whitebank win was surprising but thoroughly deserved, dual-registered Crusaders player Lloyd White crashing over for a hat-trick of tries along the way.

Since taking on Oldham this season, the Scorpions have won 66-32 at Gateshead — winger Dalton Grant grabbing four tries — before losing 46-28 at home to Workington last week.