Injury mars Saints victory

OLDHAM St Anne's moved out of the re-election zone in Division Three of the Kingstone Press National Conference League with a 26-18 victory at Stanley Rangers.

However, there was a major downside on the day, with Marcus Heath suffering a suspected broken ankle in the pre-match warm-up.

This left Saints with only 16 fit men and the Wakefield side took advantage early on, with prop forward Jake Lord crossing for a try in the 10th minute that Danny Duce improved.

St Anne's hit back swiftly when Chris Yarwood broke out of a tackle to send in Dominic Bryan at the corner, with Matthew Whitehead knocking over the touchline conversion.

Whitehead was then in the perfect place to accept a great pass from Craig Basnett as he was sent away down the right by Yarwood, adding the conversion.

Three minutes before the break, Basnett and Whitehead combined for Bryan to go over again for a 16-6 half-time lead.

Saints played up the slope in the second half but it didn't serve to hinder tackling and ball control, which remained outstanding -especially when defending five straight sets on the hour mark.

Paddy Fitsimmons was held short on the line and the ball was sent on to Callum Cashin to cross in the corner, with man-of-the-match Whitehead again landing his kick between the posts.

Bryan completed his hat-trick on the hour mark after backing up an excellent break from John Deakin.

That gave St Anne's a 20-point cushion and the points were safe, despite a late rally from the hosts that brought with it tries for Danny Asquith and Lee Alderson, Duce adding to both scores in the last five minutes of a pulsating game.