Too little too late in poor repeat showing

Photo: Dave Murgatroyd

NO WAY THROUGH . . . Sammy Gee finds his path to the line blocked by Swinton Lions defenders.

SWINTON LIONS 28, OLDHAM 18

HIT by injuries, sickness and loss of form, Oldham suffered their second defeat over Easter when surrendering meekly to fellow strugglers Swinton Lions in a dreadful first half.

Defensively, Scott Naylor’s men were shocking in the first 40, conceding three soft tries down their right flank. On another day Rhodri Lloyd, Chris Atkin and Connor Dwyer would have been smashed, especially half-back Atkin - one of the smallest men on the field - who was allowed to push through heavy traffic on Oldham’s line, as Lloyd had done earlier and as Dwyer would repeat a short time later.

It was the Halifax game on Good Friday all over again, but worse because Swinton are not in the same league (metaphorically that is) as the men from The Shay.

Just as they did on Friday, Oldham at least made a game of it in the second half to register tries by Danny Grimshaw, Adam Files and Jon Ford, all converted by Lewis Palfrey in a 28-18 defeat that had earlier looked like finishing a lot more comprehensively than that, in Swinton’s favour.

To be fair, Roughyeds have suffered more setbacks to personnel already this season than in the entire previous three seasons under Naylor’s command.

Already stretched, and starting with Sam Gee at full-back, Richard Lepori on the left wing, Jack Spencer in the second-row and teenagers Liam Johnson and Tyler Dickinson in on dual-reg at centre and prop respectively, Naylor was forced into another rethink.

Gee moved up to right centre, Kenny Hughes left the bench to play hooker and play-anywhere Owen transferred to full-back.

Later in the game there was a spell when Owen, Hughes and Files were all on the field together — can’t recall seeing that before — with Files replacing Will Hope and taking up position in centre field.

Though Ford went close with a touchline dash soon after Dwyer scored his second for a 28-0 home lead, it was midway through the second half before Roughyeds got on the scoreboard with a try by Grimshaw, easily his side’s busiest and most committed performer.

Files followed suit a few minutes later, going in from dummy half, before Ford wrapped up the try scoring by finishing a slick right-flank raid to at least restore a little bit of the Roughyeds’ dignity.

Much of Grimshaw’s hard work went unrewarded, as did that of Owen, who worked tirelessly to make a decent stab at the full-back job and wasn’t afraid to be inventive as Oldham chased the game.

It was too little too late. In the first half when it mattered, an Oldham side that looked low on self-belief and confidence struggled to make an impact at both ends of the pitch. And when it’s like that you’re in trouble.