Oldham face big Fev test

CHRIS HAMILTON . . . upbeat mood

OLDHAM drew one of the toughest asks of the round when paired with Featherstone Rovers at The Big Fellas Stadium in the fifth round of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup.

At the same stage last year Roughyeds pulled off one of the biggest cup shocks of all time when winning at Hull KR and they will use that as a measure of what can be achieved.

In the Kingstone Press Championship this season, Scott Naylor's men were the better side at Featherstone, losing 8-6 in a thriller.

In the last few minutes Scott Leatherbarrow missed a penalty goal from just right of the posts which would have earned Roughyeds a point.

Chairman Chris Hamilton said: "Featherstone are one of the best teams in the division, but when we went there in the league we should have had a draw at the very least.

"After a poor start we also played well there last season, so we'll be going with the same attitude and the same self-belief and we'll see what happens."

Newly-established Canadian team Toronto Wolfpack, who play in League One, face Super League side Salford Red Devils,

The draw is -

Leigh Centurions v Hull KR; Featherstone Rovers v OLDHAM RL; Leeds Rhinos v Doncaster; Salford Red Devils v Toronto Wolfpack; Whitehaven/Oxford v Halifax; Dewsbury Rams v Batley Bulldogs; Huddersfield Giants v Swinton Lions; York City Knights v Barrow Raiders.

Ties will take place on the weekend of April 22-23.

Meanwhile, Batley's notorious slope will hold no fears for Oldham when they return to Kingstone Press Championship action at the Fox's Biscuits Stadium on Sunday.

Outside of the Bulldogs camp, few know the peculiarities of THAT pitch -- and how to make the most of it - better than Roughyeds stand-off Scott Leatherbarrow, who played on it for two years as a pivotal member of the Batley side in 2014 and 2015.

More than that, he was the Bulldogs top points scorer in each of those Championship seasons.

In 2014 he made 29 appearances and totalled 141 points with five tries, 59 goals and three drop goals.

In the following year, while Roughyeds were winning promotion from League 1, Leatherbarrow was chalking up even more points for Batley - 174 made up of 82 goals, two tries and two drop goals in 25 games.

After moving south to go full time with London Broncos in 2016, he and his partner returned to live in their native Wigan and Scott signed a two-year deal at Oldham.

As Roughyeds goalkicker, vice-captain and chief play-maker, his form when returning to his old Batley stomping ground will be key to what Oldham can expect to get from their fourth away game in the league (only two at home) so far this season.

Neither Scott Turner nor Liam Thompson, who picked up knocks at Rochdale, played in Saturday's Challenge Cup win against Haydock, but both will be assessed tonight in the hope that they will be available for the Batley game.

On-loan Tuoyo Egodo, whom Castleford didn't want cup-tied, will also be back in contention.