Oldham RU close a disappointing campaign with loss at Leigh

Oldham RUFC's final league game of the season ended in a 48-13 defeat at Leigh.

Oldham won the toss and went with the wind and opened the scoring after only five minutes, with Alex Jobson kicking the three pointer giving Oldham an early lead.

Oldham were in control in the first 20 minutes and with the referee favouring Oldham at the breakdown another penalty to go with two missed efforts meant Oldham led 6-0.

Leigh sparked into life after this and managed to make way into the Oldham half.

Poor defence in the middle gave Leigh a foothold in the game as two quick tries meant that by the time half time came around the score was 12-6.

The second half started quite well for Oldham as they attempted to grasp the game back from the home team.

The forwards carried well gaining decent ground, but it was their defensive frailties which again let Leigh wrestle the game away from Oldham.

Two tries in quick succession pretty much took the game away from Oldham.

The visitors answered back from a scrum centre field with a long miss pass from Tom Davies to Ryan Pickles giving them a quick pass to Reece Blakeley who picked the ball up just inside the Leigh half.

Having beaten three defenders showing express pace, he cantered in for Oldham’s solitary try of the afternoon.

Jobson converted to make it 26-13.

That was as good as it got for Oldham, with Leigh utilising the conditions better racking up more tries with Oldham tiring from the amount of defensive work to leave a final score of 48-13.

Oldham’s man of the match was captain Jack Taylor who led from the front, both in attack and defence

Not the end that Oldham wanted to the season, writes Jim Forster, but with the RFU not letting on how many clubs will be relegated, Oldham will have to wait and see if tenth in the league table is enough to keep them in the Counties ADM Division 2.

It's been a tough season for Oldham with the player turnover and injuries to key players.

Pleasing has been the young players joining the squad from the colts team giving plenty to work on for the future.

A special mention has to go to Stuart “Moose” Brennan, who has played his last first XV game for Oldham as he is awaiting two knee operations.

A move to the coaching team looks likely for the club stalwart.

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