Roughyeds: all to play for

INSTANT IMPACT . . . Oldham duo Callum Casey and Danny Bravo.

OLDHAM Roughyeds have the chance to propel themselves right into the play-off maelstrom this weekend.

Whitehaven travel to the Whitebank on Sunday (3pm) searching for what would be a third consecutive competitive victory over Tony Benson’s men.

Coach David Seeds and company will be confident of achieving exactly that, having boosted their record in Co-operative Champion-ship One to 10 wins and two draws from 13 played through a 22-10 home defeat of local rivals Workington last time out.

Oldham, though, have found a new seam of confidence as a result of back-to-back victories over South Wales and Gateshead, against whom on-loan pair Callum Casey and Danny Bravo impressed on their first-team debuts.

Only one point separates second spot — the best position in the play-offs — from sixth, leaving the competition wide open.

While the Roughyeds sit outside that grouping in seventh, being only six points adrift of Workington in second is far from disastrous given a run of home matches still to come at Whitebank.

Swinton are running away with the title at present, seven points clear at the head of the table with games in hand.

If it weren’t for a nine-point deduction imposed before the start of the league season, though, Whitehaven would be leading the way.

’Haven have dusted themselves down from that blow, imposed due to the club entering administration last year, to bounce back strongly in 2011.

A 50-0 drubbing at the hands of the Roughyeds in the pre-season SEAT Trophy game was not a precursor of dark days to come for the Cumbrians.

Since then they have met Oldham on two occasions, winning both — at home in the Northern Rail Cup

(14-4) and at the Recreation Ground in Co-operative Championship One (40-24).

Former Roughyeds forward Lee Doran provides a familiar face in the likely ’Haven line-up.