THE RFL has reported on its website that Oldham forward Danny Bridge has been fined £75 and banned for nine months by an Independent Operational Rules Tribunal.

He pleaded guilty to a grade F charge of assault on the match official in the Betfred League 1 game against Keighley Cougars at Cougar Park on Friday, July 13.

Oldham RLFC has issued the following statement in the wake of their second-row forward Danny Bridge’s £75 fine and nine-month suspension after he had pleaded guilty to a grade F charge of contact with the referee during the recent Keighley Cougars v Oldham game at Cougar Park.

“The club wishes to apologise publicly to referee Cameron Worsley for the incident in the recent match at Keighley which has resulted in the significant nine-month ban for Danny Bridge.

“We never have, or would, condone physical contact with a match official and we fully appreciate the vitally important role that match officials play in our game.

“As a club we accept the disciplinary process that has taken place and we will deal with the punishment accordingly.”

Fortunately Mr Worsley did not sustain serious injury and both the club chairman, Christopher Hamilton, and Danny Bridge himself have apologised to him for the incident. Coach Scott Naylor also tenders his apologies.

As we approach the business end of the season we will focus all our efforts on the remaining matches and we again apologise to all concerned.