Brave Littler shows fighting spirit

GOOD TO BE BACK: Craig Littler, pictured in action against Blackpool, hopes to play his part in the play-offs.

‘I’m back here and enjoying the best part of the year’

OLDHAM aim to hit top form against play-off rivals Hunslet this weekend in order to boost confidence ahead of what is sure to be a tough end-of-season competition.

The fixture represents the Roughyeds’ third successive match against sides around them.

While the record of Tony Benson’s men against those teams at the top of Co-operative Championship One isn’t good — unbeaten champions Dewsbury, Keighley and York have all done the double on Oldham in 2009 — the club aiming for a third successive play-off final has not lost once against anybody else in the division.

Sunday’s scoreline is unlikely to be as emphatic as the 32-14 result Benson’s side recorded, thanks to a second-half turnaround, at the South Leeds Stadium in the Northern Rail Cup earlier this season.

Both clubs have experienced a big turnover in playing staff terms since then.

Only seven of the 17 who turned out in that game played for Hunslet in their 20-16 defeat at Keighley two weeks ago, while Oldham’s side that lost 37-24 at home to York on the same day contained no less than nine changes from the March 1 NRC clash.

One man who has recently stepped back into the fray for the Roughyeds is Craig Littler.

Now in his third season at the club, the former St Helens academy centre bravely slipped into the breach for the home game against Hornets RL despite nursing a fractured arm, sustained during a loan spell at Swinton.

The centre isn’t the sort to complain and despite that significant hindrance, Littler performed with typical guts in recent weeks, even adding three tries during his last four consecutive appearances.

He hopes to carry on being involved, right up to and including the play-off final.

“I never particularly wanted to go to Swinton, I just wanted to play and I am grateful that they offered me that opportunity,” Littler explained.

“It all worked out well and now I am back here and involved in the best part of the season.

“It has been a hectic few weeks at the club with everything that has gone on, but we are more settled now. The signings deadline has gone and we are happy with what we have got and confident of doing well in the play-offs.

“Hunslet have a good side and along with Blackpool, seem to have come from nowhere to where they are now. It will be a difficult test for us.

“After that, it seems pretty nailed on that we will be up against Swinton in our first play-off game at home and though we would expect to get through that, they will all be tough from there.

“We feel that on our day, we are capable of beating all the sides around us.”

Hunslet appointed Paul March as their new player-coach on July 9 and since taking over, the former York boss has overseen an up-and-down streak of results.

He arrived at the famous old myrtle-and-flame club when they were on a run of three consecutive defeats.

He couldn’t halt the slide in his first match in charge, which saw the Hawks go down to a 24-6 loss at home to unbeaten champions Dewsbury.

Ironically, March’s first victory came away at York — the club he departed earlier this year in acrimonious circumstances — via a 20-8 scoreline and consecutive home wins followed over Blackpool (34-24) and Swinton (30-20), before the juggernaut was derailed in a nail-biting 20-16 reverse at Keighley two weeks ago.

Aiding the Hawks cause have been a number of eye-catching signings, in what now appears to be a strong squad.

Former Knights men Danny Ekis, Wayne McHugh and Scott Woodcock (on loan) have all followed in March’s footsteps to Hunslet, while the latest man to arrive is former Dewsbury and Featherstone loose forward or stand-off Josh Weeden.

The referee for Sunday’s game is Dave Merrick, who took charge of the Hawks’ last match ay Keighley.


DEWSBURY Rams will become only the second team to win all their league matches in a season if they defeat Blackpool on Sunday, equalling Hull’s 100-per-cent success record of 26 wins in the 1978-79 division two.