Hough salutes unsung heroes

NEIL RODEN: Superb defence at the fringes.

CHRIS HOUGH has paid tribute to the unsung heroes behind Oldham’s play-off push.

On hand to assist coach Tony Benson with passing on dug-out messages in the absence of conditioner Martin Roden - who is in the side fully on merit now at hooker - 28-year-old Hough is in a good position to assess the club’s prospects.

Following on from the comprehensive 54-30 dismissal of Hunslet last week, Hough reckons that a number of men who shun the spotlight deserve recognition ahead of the Co-operative Championship One final eliminator away at York on Sunday (3pm kick off).

“If you look around at players like Craig Lawton, he got through an awful lot of hard work at the weekend and Tommy Goulden was exceptional,” said Hough, who has been pressed into 18th man duties on several recent occasions as a result of Benson’s squad being stretched almost to breaking point due to injuries.

“The amount of tackles and ball carries Tommy produces is unbelievable.

“In the half-backs, Thomas Coyle was back to himself in terms of confidence and his short passing was superb.

“And Neil Roden doesn’t always get a mention but he is the voice of the team and he commands things. Being a half-back myself, I also watch for his defence at the fringes and it was superb.”

Hough, in his second spell with the club having arrived initially to help give on-field guidance to the reserves, is confident that Oldham are capable of going all the way to promotion.

For that to happen, the Roughyeds would need to defeat finalists Keighley in a showdown in Warrington on Sunday, October 4, seven days after seeing off York.

“I believe we can do it,” Hough added. “Firstly, we have to beat York and the key to that is keeping our discipline.

“Theirs is a small pitch and one penalty can see you go from their end to defending on your own line. Stopping their offloads and coming up with a good kick chase, as we did against Hunslet, is also going to be important.”

History suggests it will be a tight game. Since York were relegated to National League Two along with Oldham in 2006, there have been three meetings at the Huntington Stadium between the teams.

In 2007, a Robert Roberts drop goal secured a 15-14 win for the Roughyeds but the last two visits have led to defeats.

The 40-24 reverse a year later was desperately disappointing in that a try in the final two minutes from full-back Danny Ratcliffe denied the visitors a vital bonus point which would ultimately have taken Oldham above Barrow and into an automatic promotion spot in the final table.

The 20-18 defeat in front of a live television audience in late June of this year was also particularly galling given that Goulden had a late try mysteriously ruled out, despite appearing to have warranted the benefit of any doubt that he had grounded the ball while under pressure.

York are waiting on the fitness of a number of players before coach James Ratcliffe finalises his side.

Controversy has raged since the Knights lost against Keighley in a stormy clash last week, with Cougars centre Daley Williams — scorer of two first-half tries — picking up a two-match ban having been found guilty of punching York’s Danny Ratcliffe during his side’s 32-18 victory at Cougar Park.

The talk since has been of possible legal action, with the 21-year-old York player suffering a broken nose and dislocated jaw.

The Knights also have doubts over Lee Waterman (wrist), Steve Lewis (hamstring), David Clayton (concussion), Gareth Moore (dead leg) and Loz Wildbore (foot) — tormentor-in-chief during the recent 37-24 win at Boundary Park.