Frustration for Oldham coach

COACH Tony Benson was left ruing the adverse weather conditions after Oldham RL Club’s friendly at Featherstone Rovers was postponed yesterday.

Benson was desperate to give valuable match time to trio Neil Roden, Paul Noon and Lucas Onyango, who are yet to feature in the build-up to the Co-operative Championship One season.

New signing Paul Ballard was also pencilled in to make his Roughyeds debut, but he must wait until this Sunday at the earliest, when Oldham are due to entertain Featherstone in the group stages of the Northern Rail Cup.

“It is gutting because we have now only played twice in pre-season, instead of four times, as a result of the Law Cup cancellation and now this call-off.

“Neil, Paul and Lucas would all have played yesterday because they need minutes out there on the pitch and a chance to force their way into the reckoning when the competitive action begins.

“The likes of Tom Rigby, Chris Murphy and Michael Ward also need run-outs, but at the end of the day as frustrating as it is, the one thing we cannot control is the weather.

“Paul Ballard has not played for a while because he was injured last year and he would have made his debut.

“Some of the players had probably set off for the match or were at least digging their cars out of the snow when we heard the news. It is disappointing for them more than anyone.”

Benson admitted the postponement leaves him with something of a selection headache ahead of Sunday’s fixture.

He added: “It is all about putting it behind us and getting ready for the weekend now, but I have to do a lot of thinking in the next few days.

“We have played half the amount of matches we should have played at this stage and a lot of people are vying for places.”