Oldham fired up for Cougars clash

Danny Langtree and Adam Files in action

OLDHAM will have more than enough motivation to go to Keighley with all guns blazing.

They have lost five straight games at Cougar Park and haven’t beaten their opponents since April 2007.

Since then Keighley have won seven out of 10 clashes.

Six years on, the current Oldham side will be caught up in an emotion-charged day at Cougar Park when there will be a poignant ceremony to officially rename the main stand The Danny Jones Stand in honour of the 29-year-old team star who died of a cardiac arrest following the May 3 game.

Oldham go to Cougar Park looking forward to a top-of-the-table clash in which they will be bidding to end eight years of disappointment at a venue that has rarely offered them much solace.

Cougars have signed Bradford half-back Adam Brook (20) on loan and he is likely to figure on the bench with the experienced March and Handforth again in partnership as the midfield brains trust.

In the absence of suspended trio Gareth Owen, George Tyson and Josh Johnson, Roughyeds will be looking for major contributions from Kenny Hughes and/or Adam Files at hooker and from the returning Jon Ford in the centre.

Few teams can match Oldham’s strength in depth at hooker. Owen was in stunning form before his ban and now Hughes and Files have opportunities to press their claims. Hughes is an accomplished player whose link work with Danny Langtree - his former team mate at St Helens - is instinctive and damaging to the best of defences.

Files is at his best when attacking the line, as he did brilliantly in 2013 when he scored 15 tries. He missed most of last season with a knee injury, but if he can hit that sort of form again he’ll give the side another attacking dimension in the final third of the pitch.

Oldham produced their best display of the season to beat Newcastle and it will need a repeat performance in this one. Extra motivation won’t be necessary...