Broncos batter awful Oldham

Photo: Alex Broadway

BREAK AWAY . . . Determined George Tyson bursts clear of the Broncos defence to score for Oldham.

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OUTCLASSED, out-fought and out-enthused, Oldham succumbed like lambs to the slaughter in a demoralising 74-12 defeat in London.

The Broncos, who were lucky to win 20-18 at Bower Fold in February, were made to look like world-beaters this time as Roughyeds dropped off tackles, left gaping holes in defence, were slow and sluggish in possession and, worst of all, showed signs in the second half of hoisting the white flag.

They conceded FOURTEEN tries - one every five-and-a-half minutes - as the Broncos blitzed their woefully weak defence nearly every time they had the ball.

The Londoners were quicker, faster, stronger, scoring six tries in the first half and eight in the second on the back of strong forward thrusts, quick play-the-balls, clever work by the halves, razor-sharp support play and clinical finishing by the outside backs.

Wingers Kieran Dixon and Rhys Williams, centre Ben Hellewell and outside-half Api Pewhairangi each scored a brace of tries as Roughyeds failed abysmally to stop their opponents flinging the ball around and using the wide, open spaces of the generously proportioned artificial pitch at the Trailfinders Sports Club in Ealing.

Second-row man Daniel Harrison and Jarrod Sammut, no less, also scored twice while prop Mark Ioane and back-row man Jay Pitts also crossed for a try apiece in the second half.

The home side already led 30-6 at half-time when they introduced the class act that is Sammut off the bench.

RUTHLESS

He might be one of the most dangerous, if not THE most dangerous half-back in the Championship, but his role here was to get to dummy half and ruthlessly expose an Oldham defence that looked more and more vulnerable around the ruck as Broncos pressed forward with wave after wave of relentless attack.

It said much of the relative strengths of the rival squads that Broncos could throw in a player like Sammut off the bench at the start of the second half, while Roughyeds were down to their last 17 and playing without the injured Scott Turner, Adam Clay, Phil Joy, Jack Spencer and Craig Briscoe and without their on-loan duo Kieran Gill and Liam Bent, who had been recalled by Castleford and Salford respectively.

To add to their woes, they had the use of only one dual-reg player, Nathan Mason.

That alone, though, was no reason for the 17 players who wore the jersey to look disinterested at times in the second half as Broncos pushed through tackles or offloaded and produced fast-flowing, error-free rugby of the highest calibre.

Ironically, they started nervously, especially when receiving Oldham's kick-off and two restart kicks from centre field after they had scored early tries by Dixon and Hallewell.

They allowed each one to bounce, putting themselves under pressure. Oldham, however, couldn't break down their defence and they never looked like doing so until George Tyson scored a super solo try on the stroke of half-time.

French international scrum-half Willie Barthau had an outstanding game for Broncos, but on this occasion his grubber kick just inside Oldham's half ricocheted kindly for Tyson, who set off up the right-hand touchline with no-one between him and the Broncos try line half a pitch away.

Home hooker James Cunningham covered across at speed and looked to be catching Tyson on an angled run, but the Oldham centre timed his inside swerve perfectly to leave Cunningham stranded.

It was a well-executed try that Scott Leatherbarrow converted from wide out, but Broncos were so superior in every aspect of the contest that there was never a chance of this opening try sparking a serious Oldham comeback like the one fans enjoyed at Dewsbury the week before.

The sight of Sammut warming up said it all . . . and when he inspired two tries for Harrison in the first ten minutes of the second half the visitors' worst fears were confirmed.

They managed a second try near the end when Liam Thompson chased a Leatherbarrow chip-kick, but by that time Broncos had 68 points on the board and counting.

There was still time for Sammut to score his second try from dummy half without a finger laid on him as he ran through a spreadeagled defence that was scattered all over the place.

It summed up the story of a game Oldham will very quickly want to forget.