It’s game day, and Oldham fans will be travelling to Stalybridge for the cup tie against Dewsbury. There’s still no resolution to the Oldham club’s issues with Oldham Athletic, so Bower Fold it is.
Chairman Bill Quinn is reportedly holding a Fans’ Forum at the ground prior to the game. It’ll be interesting to see what comes out of that fun meeting. I suppose the big question will be, “When are we going back to Boundary Park?”
Meanwhile, Alan Kilshaw has been named as the new head coach following the departure of Sam Burgess’s pet snake Mike Ford. Following his appointment, Kilshaw was added to the squad page on the Oldham website, yet he’s shown as Assistant Coach with the following bio…
A vastly experienced coach who joined from Keighley ahead of the 2026 season. Kilshaw oversees the Roughyeds attack, having previously worked with Swinton, Rochdale and Hunslet, as well as the Cougars. Alan has also had spells coaching in Australia.
On the same page, Callum Irving is shown as another Assistant Coach, but he departed with Ford. Great! Lol.
While I’m on about the website, the club is now offering “elite training alongside academic education” in partnership with Oldham College. Ironically, this could lead to “a recognised academic qualifcation”. Maybe start with how to use a spell checker?
Anyway, on to the game.
The Squads #
Both Oldham and Dewsbury announced their respective squads on Friday. The 25-man Oldham squad always means that there can’t ever be much excitement over who’s in and who’s out of the 21. Injuries have seen off Lannon and O’Keefe; Thornley is still recovering from his ACL, and Matty Russell isn’t yet match fit, apparently. So the squad is whoever is left.
You’d imagine Jack Walker will get a run-out at full-back, and maybe Littler will make his debut. If Morgan Smith is over his illness, he could start in the halves with Drinkwater or Dean rested. Oh yes, and maybe Emmanuel Waine will see some game time.
I don’t know too much about the Dewsbury squad other than the ex-Oldham players in the line-up. Luke Nelmes will probably play at prop, and Liam Copland should appear on the wing. I bumped into Liam Copland at my local Asda a few years back. I think I surprised him by blurting out his name as he walked in!
Veteran Paul Sykes is missing for this game. He is about 75 years old, after all.
Both clubs posted squad graphics. Oldham’s is following the style adopted this season, and it features Matty Ashurst. Matty looks like he’s going through an existential crisis and pondering how he could possibly have ended up in the middle of the Oldham circus.
Dewsbury’s graphic looks like someone was let loose with Canva. They also show the kickoff time as 15:00 PM. Handy to know it’s at 3 o’clock in the afternoon and not at the one in the middle of the night.
The Game #
There have been some blow-outs this weekend. Big wins for Huddersfield, St Helens and both Hull teams put them easily into round four. Oldham should hopefully achieve something similar against a Dewsbury side described by their own fans as “struggling for victories” in wins over inferior opposition. I saw them elsewhere described as “a bit light”.
If Oldham get their act together, they could blow Dewsbury away and post some big numbers. Once the game is done and dusted, it’ll be all eyes on the draw for the next round on Monday evening. Come on, Leeds at Headingley. Just for me!
Oldham have a bye in the league next week, so the next home game is scheduled to be at Boundary Park on the evening of February 20. Will that happen? Will it be back to Bower Fold? Will season-ticket holders be in revolt? Will 450 club members be demanding a refund?
Tune in for next week’s episode of “Soap” “The Roughyeds”.