Class wins out as Fev progress

Photo: Dave Murgatroyd

Danny Langtree

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FOR almost an hour Oldham scrapped and battled with all their might.

Then a touch of class produced a long-range try which pushed Featherstone into a 16-4 lead and that was that. Oldham were never the same again.

Sensing their opponents were on the slide, Rovers clicked into another gear and added three more tries to cruise into the last 16 of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup.

A score of 30-4 - six tries to one - doesn't reflect what Roughyeds put into a fiercely-fought battle, but in truth they never looked like winning.

They didn't have the guile, class, expertise, X-factor, football nous - call it what you will - to seriously threaten hosts with the third best defensive record in the Championship.

Only Dewsbury Rams have scored fewer points than Scott Naylor's men in the league this year and with a record like that it perhaps was no surprise that scoring here was restricted to a Scott Turner try three minutes into the second half.

Sammy Gee made a midfield surge; Gareth Owen retrieved a wayward pass and unleashed Richard Lepori; and the full back did all the right things before sending Turner in at the corner flag.

A touchline conversion from Scott Leatherbarrow would have raised spirits even further, put the home side under a bit of pressure and cut Oldham's deficit to 10-6.

It had the accuracy, but it dipped narrowly underneath the cross bar, so close that both touchjudges moved forward towards the posts before keeping their flags down. Small margins, indeed.

A few minutes later, and on the other side of the field, Oldham had a great chance to draw level.

HOISTED

Leatherbarrow hoisted a last-tackle cross-kick, George Tyson went up under pressure and tapped the ball back, but Danny Langtree knocked-on when attempting to pick up at speed and go over.

A try then and the whole pattern of the tie would have changed.

In the event, Michael Knowles came up with the best and most telling pass of the match - a beauty that went no more than a few inches to set free centre Ulugia. He raced clear up the middle and full-back Ian Hardman supported on the inside to score under the posts from the half-way line.

It was the tie's defining moment - a classy try that deserved to be a game-breaker and one that dealt Roughyeds a mortal blow from which they never recovered.

They did win one thing - the toss. And they made the first big break when Joe Burke strode clear before a Dave Hewitt kick had Rovers scrambling all over the place in defence.

A penalty for offside gave Rovers their first foothold in Oldham's half and big Josh Hardcastle received from Keal Carlile to find himself near the line and one-on-one with the diminutive Hewitt.

It was no contest. Hardcastle try, Aston goal, 6-0.

Midway through the half Rovers extended their lead to 10-0 when, from another penalty, heavyweight prop Richard Moore crashed in with three defenders trying to hold him back.

Oldham also got penalties but, unlike Rovers, they couldn't turn them into points, not even when Ulugia went to the sin-bin for a professional foul on Tyson.

Michael Ward and Ben Davies went close as Oldham fought fire with fire in the forwards, but that was as good as it got.

The visitors had their best spell after half-time, but they were never the same again after the Hardman try as Rovers put the game to bed with further scores by James Lockwood, a second for Hardcastle and finally John Davies.

Lepori, Clay, Tyson in the backs; Burke, Langtree, Ward in the forwards were Oldham's best.