Brute force clinches it for visitors

NO YOU DON’T . . . an Eccles raider is stopped in his tracks by two Oldham tacklers.

OLDHAM 7, ECCLES 13

RUGBY UNION: CONSTANT rain and strong winds made life difficult for both sides who produced some good rugby in a close North Lancs and Cumbria Division fixture, the result of which was in doubt until the final whistle.

Luke Roscoe (flu), Gary Phelan (work) and Will Mellor (injured) were missing for Oldham, who brought in veteran forward Chris Pickles, Phil Graham on the wing and Paddy Farnan on the bench.

Eccles had first use of the wind, but it was Oldham who began on the attack and only some last-gasp tackles denied them an early lead.

Mark Goodman had a chance with a penalty, but his kick was grabbed by the gusts and flew wide of its target.

After soaking up 10 minutes of constant pressure, Eccles took the lead against the run of play.

Stand-off Scott Morton collected a loose ball and kicked through for Jack Walton to score.

Oldham’s pack was once again showing improvement, winning the majority of scrums and line-outs, but it was Eccles who made it 10-0 when Sam Simpson touched down after a line-out and rolling maul.

Oldham threw everything at Eccles in the last five minutes of the first half and were rewarded with a try by Gareth Barber, whose quick tap penalty and kick caught the Eccles defence off guard.

Goodman converted and, with the wind in their favour after the break, Oldham were well in the game at 10-7 down at the interval.

However, the bigger and more experienced Eccles forwards dominated the second half, starving Oldham of possession and giving their side control until a 70th-minute penalty completed the scoring.

Oldham went close when Charlie Roscoe was forced into touch near the corner, but Eccles held on for the points.

Next for Oldham is an away fixture at Toc H on Saturday.