Young guns on fire for Oldham

Photo: Tim Bradley

STAND-OUT EFFORT: Sammy Gee (right), the Chronicle's Star Man, goes up against Mourad Kriouache.

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WHO famously said: "You don't win anything with kids"?

It was in a different sport and it was in reference to winning a trophy, but at Bower Fold yesterday, as players and fans celebrated the 14-12 victory against top-four, full-time side Toulouse Olympique, it felt like Oldham had won a cup . . . and kids in red and white played a massive part.

Six of the 17, Sam Wood at stand-off, Dave Hewitt at scrum-half, Kameron Pearce-Paul on the left wing and Matty Wilkinson, Sadiq Adebiyi and Liam Bent on the bench were 21 or under.

DEBUT

Pearce-Paul (20) and Sadiq 'Sid' Adebiyi, also 20 and a front-row forward who drove the ball forward with the force of a tank, were on home debut and making only their second appearances at this level.

In a side containing the maximum five loan or dual-registration men, as permitted by Championship rules, dual-reg Wood from Huddersfield Giants and on-loan Bent, from Salford Red Devils, were the youngest pair on the field at 19.

Prop Dan Smith, their senior by five years and another Giant, completed the allocation of imports on a day when the youngsters became of age and a more seasoned and street-wise member of the squad, Steve Nield, turned back the clock a couple of years.

Recalled from a loan spell at Gloucester and, pre-season friendlies apart, playing only his second senior game in two years for his home-town club, the full-back scored the first try after 14 minutes and went on to enjoy a memorable afternoon. He never put a foot wrong.

He wasn't on his own, either.

All 10 Oldham forwards were dominant and determined in their quest to hold their own with one of the biggest packs in the competition.

Led by second-rower Sebastien Planas, the Toulouse forwards were a formidable force with stand-out performers in French Test hooker Charles Bouzinak, Kiwi prop Tyla Hepi, Aussie second-row man Rhys Curran and a monster of a man coming off the bench, Constantine Mika.

Had Oldham's forwards showed even a hint of weakness they would have been bossed and bullied and intimidated to the point of capitulation by Toulouse's formidable pack.They tackled like men possessed.

In the event, they stood their ground, tackled like men possessed, fought fire with fire, produced big hits galore and restricted a side that put 58 points on them in Toulouse to two tries - one of them a 'softie' near the end when they let Bouzinac slip in from dummy-half.

Outside the pack, Marguerite and Ader, the French centres, were given a battering by George Tyson and Sammy Gee, the latter stepping in as captain in the absence of Gareth Owen and Scott Leatherbarrow and leading by example. It was not a completely error-free performance, but one which underlined the dogged determination of this Oldham side to avenge their defeat on French soil a couple of months ago.

WONDERFUL

Back then, Toulouse were served by two wonderful half-backs in Jon Ford, an Aussie, and Frenchman Stan Robin.

Without this injured pair to lead them around the park, they were but a pale shadow of the attacking force they once were, but that should take nothing away from what Oldham achieved on a significant day for the club in terms of ending an eight-match losing streak and building confidence for the battles ahead.

A key part of that were the young halves, Wood and Hewit, who shouldered a lot of responsibility in Leatherbarrow's absence.

Wood had a first-rate game on attack, defence and as a field kicker with a big boot, while Hewitt constantly pummelled the left-side touchline to set up good field position and did well with his goalkicking.

Oldham opened the scoring after quarter of an hour. Hewitt switched the direction of attack in the Toulouse 20-metre zone and Liam Thompson found Nield powering through on the burst.

His surge took him through a gap and across the line for an unconverted try.

Crunching tackles by Thompson on Marguerite and Tyson on Maurel brought high-fives all round, but a rare mistake, and then an infringement, gave Toulouse momentum and they went in front with a Planas try, goaled by Kheirallah.

Highlights of the remainder of the first half were excellent defensive covering by Luke Adamson and a spectacular, one-handed collection of a Toulouse kick by Nield.

Oldham had the slope in the second half and they made it count to put constant pressure on the visitors' defence, culminating in a second try when Danny Langtree sent Tyson powering through a huge hole for a try which Hewitt improved on the angle.

Wilkinson, off the bench, terrorised Toulouse at the ruck and as Oldham kept up their momentum Hewitt added two penalties, the first after a bad tackle on Langtree, the next one when Bouzinac slowed down Gee's recycle.

At 14-6 with 15 minutes to go, Roughyeds were in a commanding position, but Bouzinac squeezed in from dummy half and Kheirallah kicked the goal to set up a tense final few minutes.

This time Oldham managed to hold on and the celebrations could begin.