Sibling rivalry set to light up battle

OH BROTHER, YOU BETTER WATCH OUT . . . Luke Adamson (right)

BROTHERS Luke and Toby Adamson will create a family affair if, as is likely, they are on opposing sides when Oldham and Dewsbury Rams clash at Bower Fold tonight (8pm) in a crucial 'four pointer' at the lower end of the KP Championship table.

Oldham's Luke (29) left the Rams last month and made his Roughyeds debut as a second-row forward in the Summer Bash defeat by Rochdale. He has played in every game since.

Dewsbury's Toby, the younger by two years, didn't play in the Rams' under-strength side that lost 64-11 at Hull KR last Sunday, but it's thought he'll be in action tonight, possibly at prop.

PARENTS

"Our parents will be there with a foot in both camps, but I don't know which team they'll be supporting," said Luke. "They'll want us both to have good games, and then leave it at that, I suppose.

"Wherever Toby plays we'll have to do a job on him. They'll field a much stronger team than they did at Hull KR and they'll be keen to win it for obvious reasons, as will we.

"I was at Dewsbury for two and a half years. I have a lot of friends there and I have a lot of respect for them. Both teams are in a similar position in the table and we both need a win so it's going to be another tough game."

In a lop-sided game at Dewsbury on April 30, Scott Naylor's men trailed 24-6 at half-time and roared back to win 28-24 with unanswered second-half tries by Michael Ward, Kieran Gill, George Tyson and Joe Burke, the last one after Scott Leatherbarrow made an outside break and found his prop backing up on the inside.

Roughyeds haven't won since, so they need to play tonight at least as well as they did in the first and third quarters of the Halifax match, with more clinical execution when in sight of the Rams try line and with a much better set completion rate over 80 minutes.

The importance of an Oldham win, on a night when third-bottom Swinton Lions are also in action at Featherstone, can't be over-stated.

Well aware that vocal fans at Bower Fold can help Roughyeds to get the win they crave so badly, Naylor has urged supporters to make a special effort to attend and to enjoy the only evening game of the entire season.