Saints in buoyant mood

AMATEUR RUGBY:

OLDHAM St Anne’s are in upbeat mood for the visit of title hopefuls Oulton Raiders in Division One of the National Conference League tomorrow.

Saints defeated Wigan St Cuthberts, from the North-West Counties League, 24-10 in round one of the National Cup six days ago, and coach Mick Cashin is hoping his side can maintain the good work.

He said: “We haven’t played badly since the start of the New Year, so that was coming and, credit to the players, they showed a great attitude in difficult conditions.

“We put a first and second half performance together and, when we do that, we can match anyone in the division.”

Front row forwards John Fox and Anthony Platt are back in contention after missing last weekend’s victory because of work commitments.

Dominic Igoe could be on the replacements’ bench after recovering from a knee injury, but centre Chris Carter and second row David Harris are unavailable.

Saddleworth Rangers, who are third from bottom in the Premier Division, are at home to West Hull.

The two teams were due to meet in Greenfield last weekend, but a frozen pitch put paid to any chance of play.

And Waterhead, who put up a good fight before finally succumbing to Egremont Rangers in the Carnegie Challenge Cup, welcome Eastmoor Dragons to Peach Road for a Division Two clash.