Clay is foiled in stirring finish

EYE TO EYE . . . prop Michael Ward makes a charge for the line

A LAST-DITCH tackle on Adam Clay in the dying seconds robbed Oldham of the win they deserved with a much-changed team at Halifax last night.

Having scored three tries to Fax's two, but trailing 16-14 with time running out fast, revved-up Roughyeds went in search of the winner only for right-wing Clay to be bundled into touch at the corner, literally inches from the line.

A relieved Richard Marshall, the Fax coach, said: "I thought they were in. A good, long ball out wide gave them a clear chance. But credit our defence. Steve Tyrer's tackle won the game for us.

"Oldham are a spirited side. Their league position says nothing of how good they are."

The corner post went flying under the weight of several bodies and referee Andy Sweet consulted his touch-judge before disallowing the try.

Interviewed later, Clay said he couldn't honestly claim to have scored, although he was adamant the touchjudge got it wrong earlier when ruling that the Oldham winger put a Ben Johnston kick into touch-in-goal with Rob Worrincy breathing down his neck.

It gave Fax a repeat set from an Oldham drop out and with Adam Neal already in the sin-bin, 12-man Roughyeds couldn't stop James Saltonstall scoring in the corner past an outflanked defence.

"I was shepherding the ball into touch-in-goal, but I didn't get a foot to it and it definitely hit the line," said Clay, who appeared to be pushed in the back by Worrincy before the decision went against Oldham - one of a few to cause frustration on the Roughyeds' bench.

For this second game in four days, Oldham coach Scott Naylor brought in Tuoyo Egodo, Kieran Gill, Ben Davies and Jamel Chisholm and rotated Richard Lepori, George Tyson, Danny Grimshaw and David Hewitt.

Gareth Owen played half-back; Kenny Hughes got a rare start at hooker; and Neal and Danny Langtree, after their storming performances in Friday's 22-18 win against Swinton, were on the bench.

Naylor stuck to his promise to give every fit member of the squad at least some part to play in the demanding Easter programme - and it was a plan that came within a whisker of yielding a maximum four league points.

Fax were minus Simon Grix and Ben Heaton, injured in Friday's win at Bradford, and when his side went 14-0 up Marshall pulled off his two most influential players in stand-off Scott Murrell and tearaway second-rower Adam Tangata.

Having restricted the top-four side to two tries in 50 minutes, Naylor's gutsy battlers then took total command of the last quarter to score three unanswered tries by Gill, Joe Burke and Chisholm and to go oh so close to grabbing a match-winner by Clay.

The only try of the first half, scored for Fax by Johnstone and goaled by Tyrer, had a large element of luck about it.

Murrell's speculative kick from distance, angled towards the sticks, looked to be covered by Scott Turner until it hit the foot of a post and bounced favourably for the home half to make a simple touch down.

Both sides made plenty of mistakes when trying to handle a greasy ball, but Oldham had their moments, notably when Sammy Gee was stopped on the line.

Early in the second half a Chisholm knock-on, Neal's yellow card, a touchjudge's mistake, Saltonstall's try and Tyrer's accurate goalkicking conspired to see Oldham facing a 14-point deficit.

Displaying huge self-belief and a never-say-die attitude, they rocked Fax with their three-try salvo, but another Tyrer penalty and two missed conversions off the touchline by Scott Leatherbarrow saw the home side home.