Oldham wary of sting in the tail

PAUL NOONE . . . back in contention.

Scorpions may pose big threat
OLDHAM RL chairman Chris Hamilton believes the Roughyeds will have to be at their best against “dark horses” South Wales Scorpions on Sunday in the Northern Rail Cup group stage.

Tony Benson’s Oldham outfit are looking to bounce back from the disappointing 68-0 home reverse at the hands of Featherstone Rovers.

Hamilton said: “Scorpions are a bit of an unknown quantity because they are still actively recruiting, although having said that, they already possess some quality players like Steve Parry and Jamie Rooney.

“Like a number of teams, they want to be up there in the top four of the Co-operative Championship One and will go all out for promotion.

“Their club link-up with Wigan has not fully come together yet but they are definitely dark horses this season.

“It is going to be an interesting game on Sunday because we lost there last term but beat them at Whitebank.

“They have several lads who were born and bred in Wales, so there is plenty of passion in their team.

“We will have to be at our best this weekend.”

Paul Noone, who has not appeared since the beginning of pre-season due to work commitments, comes into contention for the first time on Sunday.

Martin Roden, Lucas Onyango and Paul Ballard all played against Featherstone and will, if selected, look to build their fitness.

Hamilton added: “Unfortunately, Paul has not been available recently but I would expect him to be involved in this fixture.

“Obviously we are looking for — and expect — a positive reaction from the players after the heavy loss against Featherstone Rovers at Whitebank.

“For the first 40 minutes I thought we played very well, but it was so disappointing to see us fall away so badly in the second half.

“The beauty of having a match so soon after a heavy defeat is that it provides the players with a chance to get ‘back on the horse’ and put things right.”