Bentley adds to Oldham’s woes

OLDHAM RL Club’s injury jinx has struck again.

Valu Bentley quit with a pulled calf muscle 10 minutes into the 26-16 defeat by Whitehaven at Whitebank while Lucas Onyango (hamstring) and Alex Thompson (knee) also picked up knocks.

On a brighter note, Paul Noone, David Ellison and John Gillam are said to be in with a realistic chance of making their comebacks in Saturday’s rearranged game against South Wales Scorpions at Whitebank (1pm kick off).

The latest injuries, coupled with another loss and an angry reaction from a small section of supporters, left coach Tony Benson deflated.

“I feel like burying myself at the moment,” he said after the game. “But I’ll pick myself up and then I’ll pick up the boys.

“We were hoping to have most of the squad back next week, but it’s now looking as though we might have three back merely to replace the three latest casualties.

“We’ve also got Jamie Dallimore in front of the RFL disciplinary committee on Tuesday, so we’ll have to see how that goes too.

“That seems to be how things are going for us just at the moment.

“The majority of our fans can appreciate that, but I copped criticism from some of them after the game and they also had a go at the players.

“That’s their right. They pay their money and they are entitled to speak their mind, but I’m glad to say that most supporters stayed behind until we had finished our post-game debriefing on the field and then applauded us as we moved up the tunnel.”
(for the full version of this report see Monday’s Chronicle)