Workington return for Roughyeds

OLDHAM RL will embark on an immediate revenge mission after being drawn to face Workington at home first-up in the Championship Shield.

Scott Naylor's side – beaten 32-20 by the Cumbrians on Sunday at Bower Fold – will do battle once again with their relegation-threatened rivals in a match of huge significance on Sunday, August 7.

Next up after that is a trip to Swinton a week later, while the Roughyeds have two other home fixtures: Sheffield Eagles on Bank Holiday Monday, August 29; and bottom-of-the-table Whitehaven on Sunday, September 11.

Here is the full fixture list for Oldham (all 3pm kick-offs):

August 7, Workington Town (h); August 14, Swinton Lions (a); August 21, Bradford Bulls (a); August 29 (Bank Holiday Monday), Sheffield Eagles (h); September 4, Halifax (a); September 11, Whitehaven (h); September 18, Dewsbury Rams (a).

Meanwhile, Richard Lepori, with a badly-gashed hand, wasn't the only injury victim in Oldham's fiercely-fought relegation battle with Workington.

It has since emerged that Adam Clay suffered a grade-two tear in a shoulder when tackled heavily by Town's star man Jarrod Sammut early in the second half.

Town's talisman half-back failed to put a penalty into touch. Clay collected the ball just inside the touchline and moved infield where Sammut's tackle caused Clay's legs to go above the horizontal.

The Roughyeds winger went down heavily on his shoulder and Sammut was penalised for an illegal tackle.

Clay completed the game on the wing, but with only one strong arm he was severely restricted with the game finely balanced at 20-18 in the Cumbrians' favour.

The medical team at Huddersfield Giants, Oldham's partner club, have since told him that he suffered a grade-two tear when his shoulder hit the hard ground first and took the full impact.

The Giants' medics spent a lot of time with him before sending him away with an extensive rehab programme which will cover two more weeks.

Whether he will play in the opening Shield game on August 7 is not clear at this stage but, if not, he should be ready for the following weekend.

ROUGHYEDS have apologised to fans for having no programmes at the last two league games. It was due to circumstances beyond their control, they said, and steps would be taken to make sure it didn't happen again.

MR and Mrs Newby (Dobcross), Phil Hunt (Oldham) and Robert Hunt (Rochdale) each won a pair of tickets for Bower Fold match-day sponsors' suite places in ORSA's annual-meeting draw. Prizes were donated by the parent club.