Oldham out, but not down

Photo: Tim Bradley

Michael Ward scores 1st try of the game

CLASS would tell in the end, but for the first half hour an Oldham side that was down to the bare bones went cheek by jowl with Super League's finest.

It wouldn't last, but it was enough to show Tony Smith that he made the right call in sending out his strongest available Warrington side.

Of the 17 who put 40 points on Wigan Warriors the other night only Matty Russell, Ryan Atkins, Jack Hughes and Ben Westwood were absent.

The other world-class stars were all there, headed by Kurt Gidley and Stefan Ratchford at half-back and by Chris Hill and Ashton Sims in the front-row.

Opposite them in this Ladbrokes Challenge Cup sixth-round clash at Bower Fold was a seriously depleted Oldham squad which went into battle without Danny Langtree, Joe Burke, Jack Spencer, Jon Ford and Craig Briscoe.

Huddersfield's cup defeat of Leeds Rhinos the night before robbed Roughyeds of the opportunity to use dual-reg Giants, so with only 16 fully match-fit players available they had to fast-track the return, after an appendix operation, of centre Tom Ashton on the bench.

You wouldn't want to go into any match with only two props, Phil Joy and Michael Ward, let alone into a last-16 Challenge Cup tie against the Super League leaders.

When Joy was replaced by Sammy Gee after 16 minutes and Ward by Adam Files after 25, Oldham didn't have one recognised prop on the field.

It was Mini v Maserati . . . and for the first 32 minutes the men in the Mini rattled their rich opponents with the brand of tough, direct, 13-man rugby which saw off Batley, Sheffield and Featherstone in the previous three games at Bower Fold.

Scott Naylor wasn't daft enough to predict an Oldham win. He promised only that, as ever, his players would give everything in the cause of their club and its supporters.

delivered

In that regard, they delivered brilliantly. They knew they were on a hiding to nothing but they vowed to go at Warrington until the tank ran dry.

That it took the visitors 32 minutes to hit the front for the first time — and to get the Wire Army into full voice at the top end of the ground — says much of Oldham's fantastic team performance while going down the slope in the first half.

They forced Wire into errors, not least when Gidley, of all people, kicked out on the full, giving Roughyeds the possession and position from which Ward received from Gareth Owen at dummy half to score under the posts with only eight minutes gone.

The home side had a lucky escape when Penny dropped the ball going over the line in Richard Lepori's challenge, but Wire drew level midway through the half when Hill showed his strength and class by crashing over the near the posts.

It followed a Ratchford penalty to the corner. The touchjudge, unsure whether the kick ended in touch or in touch-in-goal, didn't make a decision but the referee ruled 'touch' and Hill scored in the resulting set.

Minutes later Wire were denied again when Ratchford sent Ormsby in only to be recalled for a forward pass.

Oldham then enjoyed a period in the ascendancy and twice went close to going back in front — first when Jack Holmes was denied in the corner for a knock-on and then when Will Hope was held up under the posts on the last tackle as he tried in vain to put the ball down.

Wire immediately went to the other end where the brilliant Currie combined with Ormsby to send in Jullien, and from then on it was pretty much one-way traffic.

In the eight minutes before half-time and the eight minutes afterwards they ran in six tries, including a length-of-the-field interception by Rhys Evans at a time when Oldham were attacking strongly in a bid to score again before half-time.

In a totally one-sided second half Roughyeds rarely saw the ball and Wire turned on the class and the razzle-dazzle to score nine tries in the 40 minutes — the first three by the hugely impressive George King.

Currie and Cox were also in rampant mood, while Ratchford began to orchestrate things following the departure of Gidley, to be replaced by teenage debutant Morgan Smith.

The Wire's right-to-left shifts were brilliant in their speed and execution, leaving Oldham's right-side defenders clutching thin air or finding themselves stranded in no man's land.

The scoreboard had ticked on to 70 by the time Oldham got a last-gasp consolation, Owen touching down in the corner after a Roper cross-kick on the last tackle.