Roughyeds take league shield

SHIRT PULL: Josh Crowley tries to effect a get-away.

Oxford 12, Oldham 76

NOTHING, it seems, can halt Oldham's progress in this most remarkable of Roughyeds' seasons, certainly not the dreaded combination of digits 1 and 3.

Scott Naylor's table-toppers cruised effortlessly to 13 tries at Oxford, extending their winning run to 13 games (in a fixture originally scheduled for the 13th).

And with captain Lewis Palfrey rested and vice-captain Sam Gee suspended, Liam Thompson led the side as skipper - wearing number 13!

Lucky for some? There have been odd times Oldham have had the rub of the green, but they didn't need it at Iffley Road. Oxford were pretty poor and fans in red and white were looking ahead to the post-match trophy presentation long before half-time, when Oldham were 34-6 in front and making sure that RFL president Dr Paul Morgan didn't have a wasted journey with the trophy. This was the first prize Oldham has won since the new club was formed in 1997, and it the focus of much delight from the visiting supporters, some of whom had travelled from Southampton, Plymouth, Hertfordshire and other Southern counties to watch non-playing captain Palfrey collect it.

Naylor's men won comfortably, to register their biggest win of the season, without Palfrey, Gee, Richard Lepori, Adam Neal, George Tyson and Danny Langtree as well as long-term injury victim Steven Nield - all of whom travelled to support the team except Lepori, in Moscow on international duty with Italy).

Any fears fans might have had that Roughyeds wouldn't be ready to play on full throttle were quickly dispelled when Crowley, Jon Ford and Will Hope all scored in the first 12 minutes.

The shell-shocked Blues had a bit of pace and penetration down their right flank, but they were hopelessly outclassed in the forwards, at half-back and from dummy half where first Gareth Owen and then Kenny Hughes and Adam Files ripped them to pieces.

Ten of the 13 tries were scored by forwards, that in itself showing how easily Oxford were smashed open down the middle.

Crowley, Hope, Phil Joy and Files each scored two, while others were scored by Hughes, Elliot Liku, Ford, Jack Holmes and Dempsey.

All the forwards played well to give Hewitt and Roper plenty of scope to orchestrate things from centre field.

Well though Oxford were served by full-back Nathan Kitson and pacy right-winger Luke Gardiner (until he was concussed and had to leave the field shortly before half time), Naylor will be looking to tighten up his left-edge defence with the prospect of coming up next against one of the most talked-about young wingers in the game, Keighley's Andy Gabriel.

So to Whitebank on Sunday, with the top two teams in the league head to head, with promotion as the prize. It doesn't get much better than that.