Rugby League: Hornets and Oldham ex-players unite for Steve Gartland

Rochdale Hornets, Oldham RLFC and Oldham St Annes

Players representing Rochdale Hornets, Oldham RLFC and leading amateur outfit Oldham St Anne’s enjoyed a full day of rugby league on Sunday as part of the club’s initiative to get more former players back involved at the club.

The aim was to also raise funds for the Steve Gartland Foundation and the Rochdale Hornets Sporting Foundation, with the final figure hitting £1,000.

Initially the three teams played a round-robin series of EuroTag RL matches, hosted by Rochdale Mayfield.

EuroTag RL is a relatively new version of semi-contact rugby league, specifically developed to be much closer to rugby league than touch or tag. The main differences are that players must touch the ball and not the player to complete a tackle, which allows fending, and also that players are allowed to kick the ball.

The matches were played in great spirit with Oldham, led by ex-Hornets star Ian Sinfield, taking the spoils.

The Hornets team featured ex-players Emon Ratu, Chris Churm, Mick Farrell, Tony Hilton and veteran Paul McDermott, as well as club doctor Ian ‘Sammy’ Sampson. Board director Dave Ramsbottom also featured alongside Niel Wood from the Rochdale Hornets Sporting Foundation, Chris Rostron from Rugby League Cares and local rugby league stalwart Andy Battersby.

All the players were then invited to the Crown Oil Arena for the derby clash between Hornets and Oldham, where they enjoyed a great pre-match build-up.

The match itself proved to be a thrilling derby encounter as Hornets clawed their way back to snatch a draw despite trailing by 12 points with nine minutes left to play. 

A club spokesperson said: "The whole day was a tremendous success and the club would like to thank everyone involved as they helped make Sunday a memorable day."