Brave effort as Fev nick points

Photo: Dave Murgatroyd

TRY TIME . . . Full-back Scott Turner touches down for Oldham

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SCOTT Leatherbarrow must NOT beat himself up for failing to land a penalty attempt near the end which would have given Oldham a thoroughly-deserved draw at Featherstone.

It was just to the right of the posts and he'll still be kicking himself for putting it inches wide.

On another day, he might have hit the target with a back-heel, but this was a pressure kick, off a wet, slippy surface and with a swirling wind in sub-zero temperatures.

His first run-up was aborted when the ball was blown off the kicking tee.

He kicked on his second approach, but the wind carried the ball just

outside the near post. You knew then that, in all probability, Roughyeds would get nothing from a game in which they fully deserved a point, at the very least.

To show that it wasn't a day for goalkicking, Rovers' dual-reg left-winger Ash Handley had two conversion attempts - admittedly further out and from more acute angles than Leatherbarrow's costly miss - and he wasn't even close to finding the target.

The only successful goal kick of the game, in fact, was Leatherbarrow's to convert an early try by Scott Turner, who read his half-back's mind perfectly and chased his angled grubber into the in-goal before stretching for the touchdown.

Made by Leatherbarrow, converted by Leatherbarrow, it was a try that was ultimately to give highly-rated and much-fancied Featherstone the fright of their lives.

In awful conditions, points were hard to come by for both teams in a throwback to traditional winter rugby, played by traditional old rivals in one of the sport's traditional old stadiums.

KNOCKING

The Big Fellas Stadium ? This was Post Office Road of yesteryear with two evenly-matched sides knocking six bells out of each other, while nearly 1,800 fans shivered on the terraces and in the stands and loved every minute of it.

Playing up the slope and into the wind first half, Oldham were arguably the better side because they coped far better with the conditions than Rovers.

Leatherbarrow's astute tactical kicking controlled the game in the first half, while Turner had an absolute blinder at full-back, defying cold and sleet to produce immaculate handling and positional play in defence and to score the converted try that kept his side in the lead from the eighth minute to the 45th.

On a day like this, it was always going to be about forwards, though, and Oldham had some of the stand-out pack men in Phil Joy, Adam Neal, Jack Spencer, Michael Ward and Nathan Mason.

Leading 6-4 at half-time, and with use of slope and wind to come, Scott Naylor's men would have fancied themselves at half-time.

CONCEDE

The one thing they didn't need was to concede in the first few minutes of the second half.

On the flip side, Rovers knew they had to score first - and ideally early - if they were to prevent all-action Roughyeds upsetting the form book.

Resuming on full throttle, and having donned fresh jerseys, they quickly trapped Leatherbarrow in possession on the last tackle near half way. From there, they forced Roughyeds to concede a drop out and maintained pressure long enough for left-centre Chris Ulugia to crash over in the corner for his second try of the game.

There were three vital components to Featherstone's somewhat fortuitous triumph - Oldham's inability to hold Ulugia; the second-half problems they had in trying to stifle left-field second-rower John Davies; and their tendency, yet again, to give away heaps of penalties.

In a tight game, a penalty count of 11-5 is sure to make a huge difference and so it did here - a source of frustration to Naylor, who

said after the game that he would be taking up the matter with the Rugby Football League to seek clarification of the regulations governing a defender's role when he has completed a tackle.

Make no mistake, Oldham mixed it with one of the teams tipped for honours and, scoreboard apart, matched them in all departments and in all aspects of the game in their own backyard.

They've an equally tough ask against London Broncos at Bower Fold on Sunday (3pm), but if they play with the verve and vigour that stunned Sheffield and frightened Featherstone . . . well, who knows!