Little Oldham secure survival

THE ONLY WAY IS UP . . . Oldham's fans celebrate avoiding the drop

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MISSION accomplished.

Seven months, 29 Championship matches and something like 90 training sessions since it all began with the visit of London Broncos to Bower Fold on a winter's day in February, Oldham nailed the points they needed to stay in the sport's second tier.

The celebrations began with the shrill blast of the end-of-game siren, players and fans sharing special moments in harmony as they did when promotion from League One was clinched at Whitebank nine days short of a year ago.

Exhausted, Whitehaven's warriors slumped to the ground, their massive bid for Championship survival over the last few weeks having fallen just short.

Elated by victory, the all-singing, all-dancing Roughyeds advanced on their fans gathered behind the posts at the top end of the ground before huddling together with coaching staff in centre field and moving as one towards the tunnel.

More handshakes, more back-slaps - and they were gone. Up the tunnel to the sanctuary of the dressing room where they spent a few moments in private with Scott Naylor, Lee Spencer, Peter Carey and chairman Chris Hamilton.

There was no silverware this time, no trophies, no ribbons, no RFL top brass . . . but no inhibitions, either. It mattered not that the only cause for celebration was finishing outside the bottom two.

In reality it was a whole lot more than that.

This little club, playing in a rented stadium and living off the crumbs from the rich man's table, had survived its biggest challenge in years in a division of haves and have-nots, comprising fully professional and part-time clubs side by side.

Not only that; the fashionable clubs up top can go about their business in the lap of luxury from RFL central funding which dwarfs what the likes of Oldham receive.

Had Roughyeds gone down they would have faced an uncertain future, as Cumbrian neighbours Whitehaven and Workington will do now.

It was evident from how Haven played that they were on a do-or-die mission to take the relegation battle into the final week of the season.

Fighting for their lives, the Marras (Cumbrian slang for mates) from the Recreation Ground hurled everything bar their native mountains and fells at Oldham in the second half when they scored two converted tries in ten minutes to cut the home lead to 20-18 with nearly 20 minutes left.

An equally resolute rearguard action kept them from snatching a vital lead before Roughyeds regained the initiative to play out the last ten minutes or so in the Haven half.

It was a massive team effort that pulled Oldham through but woven into that all-embracing fabric were outstanding individual performances by full-back Scott Turner, right-wing Adam Clay, back-row men Gary Middlehurst and Liam Thompson, hooker Kenny Hughes and impact prop Michael Ward.

Whitehaven's best were full-back Ed Chamberlain, stand-off Dion Aiye and forwards Liam Carberry, Dave Allen, Carl Forster and James Newton.

Both sides scored three tries and a penalty goal, the winning margin provided by three Lewis Palfrey conversions to Chamberlain's two for the visitors.

It was as close as that, one goal - and the conversion that Chamberlain fluffed smacked against the near post from wide out near touch and bounced away.

That was as early as the fourth minute when Ugo Perez opened the scoring for Haven after the powerful Aiye burst open Oldham's right-sided defence.

Having won the toss and elected to have first use of the slope, Oldham needed early points on the board and they got them when a stroke of Gareth Owen genius from dummy half opened up the Haven defence for Phil Joy to crash in.

Thompson scored next, after great approach play by Hughes and Middlehurst, and then a penalty goal to either side gave Roughyeds a 14-6 interval lead.

Clay's try in the corner, goaled beautifully off the touch line by Palfrey, pushed Oldham out to 20-6 whereupon Haven rolled up their sleeves to capitalise on a string of penalties and wrestle back the momentum.

Carberry scored, then Newton after a bust by Allen, and Oldham were suddenly in a spot of bother.

They rallied, with Ward, Middlehurst, Clay, Owen, Tyler Dickinson and Turner to the fore, and made sure Haven were pinned in their own half for the rest of the game.

When Forster made an unforced error near the end you sensed that was the end of Haven.

Minutes later the klaxon burst into life and Oldham's celebrations could begin.