Oldham RU defeated in opening home league fixture

Oldham RUFC were beaten 43-26 at home by Warrington in their first home game of the Counties 2 Lancs and Cheshire League season. 

The visitors have started strong with two wins from two thus far and were keen on keeping the momentum going, writes Stuart Brennan.

That’s just what Warrington did and as in previous weeks it was the opposition that got the first points on the board.

After a quick break, Warrington took advantage of a scrambling Oldham defence, finding forwards out of position and with some good hands scored in the corner.

Conversion missed 0-5 Warrington.

What followed was arguably Oldham’s best spell of the season so far, some strong carries from Andy Birch and Jack Taylor set the platform for Captain Tom Davies whose pinpoint kick wrong-footed the winger for a majestic 50-22.

With confidence flowing Oldham’s pack utilised their strength and conducted a barrelling maul through the Warrington defence, before splintering off leaving hooker Rhys Jones to saunter in and performing the most elegant of swan dives close to the sticks.

Alex Jobson with the conversion 7-5 Oldham.

Warrington came straight back from the kick off.

A good kick and chase forcing a handling error putting the pressure back on Oldham. Warrington really started to turn the screw, but a fantastic defensive effort from Brian Massey, Isaac Dobbs and Louis Fitton forced the error from Warrington, leaving Davies to clear his lines from the penalty to alleviate some of the pressure.

Oldham continued to work the ball up the pitch and some patient forward carries from Paul Wardle, Marshall Yates, Mayanu and Cameron Wood, which were well orchestrated by Fitton, kept the pressure piling on deep inside the Warrington 22.

That pressure eventually led to a further penalty, where Oldham opted for the corner and again some fine collective work in the pack, paved the way for Massey to charge over the line.

Jobson with a great kick added the extras from out wide, 14-5.

Just like earlier Warrington came straight back at Oldham putting fantastic pressure on from the kick chase, pinning Oldham back to their 22.

This time Warrington played to their strengths and a solid take at the line out set the platform for some great backs interplay which saw the Warrington 10 loop round before carving through the gap between the Oldham centres, scoring in the corner.

Warrington failed to add the extras, 14-10.

Warrington really did have the bit between their teeth and opted to run out from their own 22, despite some excellent defence from Phil Conroy, Hulme and Jason Green, Warrington identified some trailing forwards out wide and capitalised on the mismatch.

Some fine running and link up play saw them break into the Oldham 22, with only the fullback to beat, threw a forward pass much to the relief of the Oldham players.

However, the pressure was still on. Oldham had a scrum deep in their own 22, a solid base from the pack meant Fitton could fire the pass back out to Davies who cleared his lines well with a 70m screamer up the pitch, just short of the opposition 22.

Unfortunately ill-discipline crept in and a number of high shots on the bounce allowed Warrington to climb back up the pitch, before some great individual defensive efforts from Dobbs forced the error.

The game very much in the balance with both teams having great spells of possession before Warrington again put the

Oldham defence under pressure spinning the ball from wing to wing, spreading the Oldham defence wide.

A try looked almost certain before Phil Conroy intercepted a loose kick from the Warrington fly half and calmly glided through the opposition before securing the ball and drawing a penalty from the scrambling Warrington line.

This was to be the last play of the half and arguably one of the strongest first half performances Coach Jim Forster had seen since coming back.

A few changes made at half time with Green and Birch making way for Reece Blakeley and McEwan respectively. McEwan moved into scrum half pushing Fitton into the centres.

The second half continued in the same way it ended in the first half with both teams quite evenly balanced, with some fine inter play between the Warrington second row and centre, matched by some great defending form Jobson, Conroy, Mayanu, Taylor, Dobbs and Massey keeping the Warrington attackers at bay.

However, the pressure finally paid off for Warrington with some fine hands out wide for the winger to touch down over the line.

Conversion pulled wide 14-15.

Warrington were looking to extend their lead further before an excellent chop tackle by Dobbs opened the door for Davies for one of his textbook tackles and win the penalty.

Conroy took the ball quick followed by strong carries from Dobbs and Wood, which sucked in the Warrington defence.

Quick thinking from McEwan with an inch-perfect box kick and a fine chase by Blakeley put the Warrington winger under pressure.

Blakeley, who forced the error from the winger, scooped up the ball and with some quick vision saw McEwan in space and some soft hands saw Jobson skip around the last defender to go over for the try.

Jobson converting his own try 21-15.

What was to follow was the clear difference between the two teams.

Oldham’s discipline meant they were kept on the back foot and alongside some poor scrambling defence, Warrington began to carve through the Oldham line as fatigue started to set in.

The away side continued their onslaught and Blakeley was caught foul of this when he received a yellow card for a last ditch tackle which was deemed to be high.

The referee awarded a penalty try as a result. 21-22.

Despite the best defensive efforts of Massey, Dobbs, Taylor, Davies and Fitton, Warrington scored three more unanswered tries and put Oldham to the sword with some fine running and support play. 21-43.

As the game got on it began to be a bit fractious, which with credit to the referee he handled the game very well.

Much to the delight of the Oldham coaches and supporters, they never gave up and some well-worked pressure deep in the opposition 22 with carries from Taylor and Wood.

A late shot on Davies, saw the game break up yet again, but a kick deep into the corner saw Oldham ready to pile on the pressure.

A neat line out move saw Paul Wardle carry the ball from the front of the lineout bringing three defenders with him, a strong carry from Dobbs drew more defenders in before a quick ball out blind saw Jones pirouette over the line for his 2nd and most acrobatic performance of the season so far, thus securing the four-try bonus point.

Jobson missing the extras, to make the final score 26-43.

Oldham have many positives to take out of the game and if they continue to grow in the spirit they showed in this performance it won’t be long before the wins start coming.

Some great individual performances from many, however, man of the match went to Jack Taylor again for his outstanding efforts in both attack and defence covering almost every blade of grass on the day.

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