For the third and final pre-season game before the start of the 2024 Super League season, the London Broncos made the journey up to Boundary Park stadium to take on Oldham RLFC.
The Broncos had two other pre-season games in 2024 against Castleford Tigers, where they drew 14-14, and Huddersfield Giants, where they lost 50-16.
This weekend’s matchup was the third and final opportunity for the Broncos to prepare themselves for the upcoming 2024 Super League season and, after facing two Super League opponents for the upcoming season, they faced a different and interesting challenge in League one side Oldham.
Unfortunately for the Broncos, the game would again end in a draw as a star studded Oldham side kept them to an 18-all draw.
The Broncos scored four times with trialist Lee Kershaw among the scores. Oli Leyland only converted one.
The Broncos had trailed 12-10 and were pegged back at the death despite the big names in their line-up.
Oldham an impressive side against Super League club
Picture by John Clifton/SWpix.com – 06/02/2023 – Rugby League – Betfred Championship – Keighley Cougars v Featherstone Rovers – Cougar Park, Keighley, England –
Featherstone Rovers’ Sean Long
Oldham finished 4th in League One in 2023 with a record of 12 wins, 5 losses and 1 draw in 18 games. Oldham have already played two other games in pre-season, beating fellow League one side Keighley Cougars 46-10 on boxing day, followed by a 24-20 victory over championship side Halifax at Boundary Park in the first round of the 1895 cup.
London have played against Oldham RLFC 30 times, winning 17 of these games & the last 13 in a row, most recently a 30-20 win on the 1st of August 2021. This final runout ahead of the regular season was a great opportunity for the Broncos to put some of their hard work from the training ground into practice and to build some confidence for their first Super League matchup of the year vs St Helens in two weeks.
Hopefully it is a learning opportunity as the result will have disappointed them. It is strange to see this result especially after the draw against Castleford Tigers who today defeated Huddersfield Giants in the testimonial match for former Leeds Rhinos hooker Paul McShane.
