Demolition job sinks York

BREAK ON THROUGH: Liam Thompson tries to make progress. PICTURES: TIM BRADLEY.

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Oldham 34, York 12

TRAILING 12-6 at the interval, Oldham rolled up their sleeves for the second half and simply smashed a very good York side into submission.

Michael Ward led the charge as Roughyeds attacked the lower end of the Whitebank pitch and rode roughshod over anyone who got in their way.

It took them 15 minutes to draw level and another 10 to hit the front - after which the shell-shocked Knights were run off their feet.

With Adam Neal and Phil Joy making enormous distances in the summer rain, Roughyeds finished the job with three converted tries in the last 10 minutes.

Ward’s tremendous surges into the heart of the York defence just after half-time put Scott Naylor’s men in the ascendancy for the first time. Once on a roll, they butchered York’s right flank with Crowley back to his barnstorming best and dual-reg centre Jake Connor looking equally as strong and powerful alongside him.

York had most of the ball and most of the good field position in the first half, while the roles were turned upside down in the second. Inevitably, Knights looked the better side for the first 40 minutes even though Oldham took an early lead when visiting full-back Ben Dent dropped a Lewis Palfrey bomb and Danny Langtree pounced..

Palfrey’s angled conversion – the first of his five from six attempts – took him past 500 points for the club in two-and-a-half seasons at Whitebank.

The game was still in its infancy when the skies blackened, the wind got up and down came the rain on a bone-hard pitch which made it extremely difficult for defenders to cope with kicks.

Jordan Howden exploited the conditions perfectly to put Oldham in all sorts of trouble near their own line. They knocked-on a couple of times to provide York with back-to-back sets which led to their opening try by Brad Nicholson, improved by Dent.

Sam Gee’s restart kick went out on the full at the social club end, the penalty providing the visitors with another opportunity to increase their lead - which they did when prop Mark Applegarth went in near the posts and Dent added the easy goal.

Having seen their side concede two tries in the space of three minutes, and with only 15 on the clock, many Oldham fans probably feared the worst.

The home side had a rare chance to break back up the slope, but Langtree’s wide ball to Adam Clay on the right wing was misdirected. Soon afterwards Langtree and York winger James Clare had a spat off the boil, culminating in a penalty for York which brought out the best in Oldham’s defence.

For Roughyeds to go in only 12-6 down after York had enjoyed nearly all the ball was a reward for inspirational defending close to their own line.

Oldham would have needed little convincing by Naylor’s interval pep talk that the game was there for the taking. They survived an early second-half scare but at the other end there was a sign of things to come when Crowley put Connor over in the corner, only for the touchjudge to rule he lost control of the ball while touchung down.

Oldham’s pack continued to roll forward and the equalising try came when man of the match Ward hit a ball at full throttle and crashed in. Palfrey goaled for 12-all.

Roughyeds then became relentless in their pursuit of the lead, and it came when Crowley produced a superb pass out of the back of his left hand to get winger Jack Holmes at the corner.

This time Palfrey’s touchline kick went well wide, but he was soon to have three more chances, scoring all of them. First Joy smashed his way over from close range off an upright from a pass by Adam Files.

Next David Hewitt slipped a perfectly-timed short ball to Crowley, who took Dent over the line with him.

As the home side continued its pressure, Hewitt’s kick was nudged into touch by Morrison and Sam Gee got the ball back inside to Crowley from the scrum. Crowley scored his second try, Palfrey goaled – and Oldham, still on top of the table, were singing in the rain.