Spirited Oldham take first step
Reporter: MATTHEW CHAMBERS
Date published: 14 September 2009
Oldham 31, Swinton 26
THREE more like that will do very nicely indeed.
Such a run would have an adverse effect on the collective blood pressure of those who hold the cause of the Roughyeds dear.
But a further trio of heart-stopping victories will see Tony Benson’s men claim promotion to the Co-operative Championship – and what a tale that would be to tell, after a season of unprecedented turmoil.
Hold your horses time. This was no vintage display from Oldham and, in truth, Swinton could and should have scored two or even three more tries than they did. An extraordinary dropped ball five metres from the line under little pressure four minutes before half-time was the stand-out example, with the Lions leading 14-12 at the time.
The Roughyeds had their own chances for extra points and this was a game high on mistakes as well as passion.
It was difficult to call a winner with any confidence at any stage. Just when Oldham had established a healthy lead at 26–14 by the hour, the obligatory interception try was given away to let Swinton back in.
Such errors will have to be eradicated if Hunslet are to be dropped at Boundary Park next week and thoughts of a play-off final appearance are as-yet premature. A similar helping of blood and guts will be necessary in seven days time.
Oldham began well. Paul O’Connor did superbly well to cling on to an offload from the breaking Craig Robinson but was brilliantly ankle-tapped by the chasing Gary Hulse, forcing him to put a foot in touch.
A minute later, Lucas Onyango went one better on the opposite wing. Lovely centre play from Craig Littler, drawing his man and issuing a delicate short pass, created the opening and the in-form Kenyan did the rest in great style by taking on and beating both Darren Bamford and Craig Hull on his way to the line, with Chris Baines converting. It was a classic winger’s try.
Swinton levelled things up when a Richard Hawkyard pass in centre-field set Bamford streaking away, crashing home after first taking the ball on halfway.
Carl Sneyd’s goal brought parity and he was soon taking on the kicking duties once again when Hawkyard stole home from dummy-half.
Thomas Coyle then produced a superb short ball to again release Robinson downfield from halfway and with plenty of support on hand, Marcus St Hilaire was ready on his inside shoulder to run home, Baines again converting on 22 minutes.
Sneyd added a 32nd-minute penalty goal which gave Paul Kid’s men a slim lead at the break, though both sides wasted chances for further tries.
Wayne Kerr’s errant step saw him ignore big numbers out wide when a try was on, while only Bamford will know what happened when the breaking Lions full-back contrived to spill the ball close to the line and with not an Oldham player in sight.
Before that, powerful prop Bruce Johnson had lost control of the ball under pressure when he had already made it across the line.
If the first half was an even affair, Oldham dominated the start of the second with set after set of big pressure applied to the visitors.
A penalty from ice-cool Baines brought the scores level and the next two tries were Oldham’s.
Coyle skipped through a gap from close in to dive over, Baines making it 20-14 on 51 minutes, then a right-to-left passing move ended with St Hilaire sending in O’Connor at the left corner, Baines belting over once again from way out wide.
It was one-way traffic – until Phil Joseph threw a floated pass out to the left which was picked out by Andy Saywell, and there was no catching the speedy winger who raced in from 70 metres.
Graham Holroyd converted before Neil Roden struck home a drop goal from at least 40 metres out, Oldham’s first one-pointer of the season stretching the lead to seven.
Saywell dived over on the right, Holroyd again goaling, but Swinton spilled the restart and from the resulting scrum, ex-Lion Joseph made up for his earlier mistake by powering home.
Baines was unsuccessful in converting for the first time but despite a few worries late on, Oldham toughed it out to make it over the finishing line.
Attitude fantastic - Benson
A FEW skipped heartbeats were a price worth paying for staying in the play-offs hunt as far as Roughyeds coach Tony Benson was concerned.
Visitors Swinton put up a big fight at Boundary Park before falling in the Co-operative Championship One competition at the first hurdle.
“It was tough to watch at the end but it is all worth it when you get to a stage like this,” said Benson.
“The thought of not being together next week wasn’t one I was looking forward to.
“To be honest, right throughout the game I felt we would come out on top.
“Swinton put up a huge fight and as I said earlier in the week, are a very good side loaded with good players right across the park. They got to rest some of them last week too.
“It gave them an advantage going into this game and for our boys to pull it out of the bag like they did showed a never-say-die attitude that was fantastic.
“It is exactly what you need in play-offs.”
Celebrations will be very mild with the Rougheyds squad still aiming at a play-off final appearance at Warrington on Sunday, October 4.
To get there, Benson accepts his team will need to up a gear after a gutsy but patchy display.
“Swinton are capable of scoring a lot of tries though you can catch them on defence when they get a bit tired,” he added.
“I never felt comfortable at any stage, even with three minutes to go. Credit to our boys for putting the pressure on them which caused them to make mistakes in the last 15 minutes.
“There is lots of room for improvement and I know the players themselves are very unhappy with parts of our game.
“We will focus on that early in the week.
“There will be very little in the way of celebrations. We have focused on being together (in the play-offs) for a month.
“As the group we are now, we have taken a big step and the challenge for us now is to carry on with that.”
