Saints kick off with an away-day test

A NEW National Conference League season gets underway this Saturday afternoon, with two of our local sides in action.

Oldham St Anne’s, who now have Chris Deakin back on board coaching the first team along with Mick Cashin, have an away game at Widnes St Marie’s (2.30pm kick off), who finished a place below them last season in division one.

In the same section Saddleworth Rangers, now under the coaching tutelage of Keith Brennan and Wes Rogers, have no game due to there being 11 teams. Rangers will have to wait another two weeks to get their league campaign underway, with Challenge Cup final weekend being fixture-free.

Waterhead, relegated last season, start off life in division two with a home match against Milford Marlins (2.30pm).




TWO Waterhead youngsters will be involved in the forthcoming under-18s European Nations Cup, which is being held in the Czech Republic.

Patrick Toft is in the England squad and Sean Garrett will turn out for Ireland in an eight-team, five-day tournament which gets underway on Monday, September 1, just outside Prague.

The other teams involved are the Czech Republic, France, Wales, Scotland, Serbia and a European Select XIII.


THREE women from successful local outfit Hillside Hawks have made it into England’s World Cup squad.



Eight of the 22 players picked for the tournament, which takes place in Australia in October, play their club games at Wakefield Panthers.

Along with Bradford Thunderbirds, Hillside are the next best represented club with Beth Sutcliffe, Andrea Dobson and Jenny Welsby all getting a call-up from head coach Brenda Dobek.

This is the fourth Women’s World Cup and it will be held on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast at Stockland Park, around an hour’s drive north from from Brisbane.

Eight teams will compete for the right to take to the field for the final, which is to be played as a curtain-raiser to the men’s equivalent on Saturday, November 15, at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

Previous women’s tournaments have been held in 2000 and 2003 with New Zealand triumphing on both occasions.




A HOST of old stagers are set to relive past glories when Waterhead hosts a Masters tournament next month.



Former Leeds and Great Britain prop Barrie McDermott, who played junior rugby at Waterhead, is helping to organise the event which is set to take place on Sunday, September 7, from noon.

Saddleworth Rangers previously hosted the first tournament of its kind on British soil in April this year and the concept, designed to enable over-35s to get back out on the field in a non-competitive environment, has since taken off in a big way.




SEVEN teams will battle it out in this season’s Standard Cup, which will revert back to the traditional Good Friday final at Boundary Park next year.



The first round gets underway next Wednesday, August 27, with ties between Saddleworth Rangers and Higginshaw, and Oldham St Anne’s and Hollinwood (both 7pm) for the right to make it through to the last four.

The other tie sees Waterhead at home to Rochdale club Whitworth Spartans, with a date yet to be finalised for that game, while newly-formed Rochdale Cobras have been given a bye to the semi-finals following the withdrawal of 2007 finalists Eccles and Salford Juniors.

The bringing forward of the final to Good Friday, April 10, 2009, is possible as a result of Oldham Athletic playing away from home at Carlisle the same day.

Latics have a home fixture against Crewe on Easter Monday, ruling out the previous day as a possibility due to pitch condition issues, but the hope is that the return to a Friday date will help bring about the sort of large crowd the Oldham amateur game’s big day out was once famous for.