Boults and Brocklehurst suspended

Oldham players Mark Brocklehurst and Jason Boults are out of the Roughyeds’ fourth-round Carnegie Challenge Cup tie at Hull on Saturday (1pm).

Both were suspended and fined £50 by the RFL disciplinary panel which met in Leeds last night — prop-forward Boults for one match and utility back Brocklehurst for two.

Brocklehurst, the club’s top try scorer so far this season with ten, will also miss the next league game against South Wales Scorpions at Caerphilly RUFC on Sunday, May 15 (3pm).

Both players, who were accompanied at the hearing by club chairman Chris Hamilton, were banned following incidents in Oldham’s 40-24 defeat at Whitehaven on Easter Monday.

The RFL’s media release indicated that Boults, who was sent off by referee Matthew Kidd, admitted using foul and abusive language to a match official.

It also reported that Brocklehurst, whose suspect tackle in the same game was placed on report, had subsequently pleaded guilty to making a dangerous throw of grade ‘B’ severity.

Boults will be back before the RFL disciplinary committee next week following his dismissal — for the second time in two games — near the end of Oldham’s 46-24 win against Doncaster at the Whitebank Stadium last Sunday.

On this occasion referee Clint Sharrad sent off Doncaster’s Kyle Kesik for a high tackle on Boults, whom he also dismissed for retaliating.