St Anne’s to harness the power of youth

RUGBY: 

OLDHAM St Anne’s battle on again tomorrow and could establish a four-point gap between themselves and bottom club Castleford Panthers with a rare win.

In an almost unremittingly grim season for our three Kingstone Press National Conference League sides — Saints, Saddleworth Rangers and Waterhead combined have won only twice in 26 games — it was another case of men against boys last week when Mick Worrall’s St Anne’s lost 66-16 at Bradford Dudley Hill in Division Two.

A cursory glance at the team line-up details a major issue — a lack of experience. Three under-18s played last week and even though guidance on the pitch will be helped by the return after injury of Kiel Lancashire, Worrall accepts the Higginshaw Road club is in a transitional phase.

“We had a very young side out last week, with players out injured long-term as well as on holiday and unavailable,” Worrall said. “The young lads did well and the scoreline wasn’t a reflection of what they put into the game. It will be a similar sort of team this weekend.”

In Division One, Saddleworth Rangers have lost 10 games despite running sides close. Tomorrow, the Greenfield club travels to Hull to play mid-table Myton Warriors.

It promises to be a difficult task for Craig Farrimond’s side, whose last league victory was on the final day of last season, 40-32 winners at Milford.

Waterhead Warriors, who were without a fixture last week, play host to Drighlington in Division Three.

The Peach Road club has the chance to climb out of the bottom-two if it can pick up two points against a Drighlington side currently sixth in the table.