Saints seek travel treble

THE PROSPECT of Oldham St Anne’s getting their rearranged National Cup third round tie at Siddal (2pm) played out are unlikely, given the snowfall in the Halifax area this week.

A decision on the suitability of the playing surface at the National Conference League premier division side’s home ground is expected to be made at some point today.

Should the game get the go-ahead, Saints will travel to West Yorkshire minus the services of centre Ryan Blake, who is being given a week’s rest, but otherwise should be at full strength.

Cross-Pennine trips have proved popular of late, with St Anne’s getting consecutive wins at Shaw Cross (15-10) and Bradford Dudley Hill (34-32) in the past fortnight.

“In the early part of the season we were on the receiving end of a few close defeats, so it is good that the luck is going our way,” said Saints coach Mick Cashin.

“Having said that, we have really come good and at Bradford last week their coach said to me that the better side won the game.”


SADDLEWORTH Rangers are in a similar part of the world for their National Cup fourth round match away at Ovenden (2pm).

A quarter-finals place is the prize at stake for coach Keith Brennan’s men, who will hope to bounce back from last week’s 14-6 home defeat to Ince Rose Bridge.

Liam Hall (illness) and Jason Best (work commitments) will both come back into contention to further strengthen the pack.

“Things will be changed round a bit and we are expecting a big forwards battle,” Brennan said.

“To be fair, last week we matched them in that department — but the extra firepower will certainly help us.”


WATERHEAD are in league action, away to a Myton Warriors team (2.30pm) who have only lost once all season and who boast the best defensive record in NCL division two.

Coach Mick Slicker isn’t expecting to make too many changes should the game get the go-ahead today, after seeing his side sneak a tight game 22-20 at home to East Leeds last time out.

“We give away a lot in size but we stuck at it despite making a lot of mistakes,” said Slicker, who saw his side pick up two points thanks to a Terry Fitzgerald try on the last play of the game.