Mistakes cost Oldham

ADM Premier Division: Oldham 19-26 Liverpool St Helens

The visitors received the kick off and looked comfortable playing through phases, but the Oldham defence was both aggressive and fully focussed and LSH often resorted to the boot to improve field position which is quite a compliment. When in possession the Oldham forwards did make ground but were thwarted by too many basic errors. However, the LSH defence failed to deal with a speculative kick through and the ever alert Dalloway was on it in a flash. He kicked the ball into the in-goal area and won the race to touch down and give Oldham a 5-0 lead. Unfortunately, it proved to be short lived. Oldham were quickly back in attack and looked as if they would extend the lead but the referee spotted an offence and awarded a scrum to LSH, 5m from their line. They demonstrated ambition, courage and belief by choosing to run from deep. A flying winger got outside our defence and looked as if he may go all the way. The Oldham defence scrambled really well and looked to have snuffed out the danger but LSH arrived in greater numbers which they made count and levelled the score at 5-5. 

Further disaster was waiting for Oldham immediately around the corner. Oldham attacked once again in the LSH half, they were burgled by an alert and opportunistic LSH centre who intercepted a pass and had an unopposed 60m canter to the line and the conversion gave them a 5-12 lead, probably against the run of play. Oldham had played well so far but the odd mistake and unnecessary penalty was, as ever, costing them dear. But they continued to look dangerous in possession and soon after created space out wide. However, the three players’ out wide happened to be Nick Hackman, Tom Hannon and Rhys Jones - all props despite what Nick might have to say on that particular subject. Probably not the three you would have chosen to exploit the circumstances given the choice.

Hackman used his prop style size and power to occupy three defenders who struggled to bring him down close to the line. He then showed real skill to offload to Hannon in support and he galloped close to the posts to touch down. Jordan McEwan’s conversion levelled the scores at 12-12. LSH restored the lead to 12-15 soon after with a penalty. Oldham had a chance to equalise on halftime with one of their own but the attempt drifted agonisingly wide. 

Oldham were optimistic about their chances in the second-half, however they immediately made a hash of the kick off and handed possession back to LSH in a great attacking position in Oldham's 22. They took full advantage of course and eventually touched down to lead 12-20 despite some stoic defence. They added to the lead shortly afterwards with two penalties and all of a sudden Oldham were trailing 12-26 and you feared the worst, with about 20 minutes remaining. But the hosts regrouped and dominated the remainder of the game despite losing a player to a foolish and totally unnecessary red card right in front of the referee. The seven remaining forwards grunted and groaned and started to out muscle the opposition. They were rewarded with a try by Ryan Pickles and McEwan's excellent conversion made the score 19-26. As the sun started to set and the game drew to its conclusion our 14 men were camped on the LSH line. Oldham looked to have scored and a series of penalties in the red zone may have led to a penalty try but unfortunately in their anxiety, Oldham eventually turned over the ball and LSH were able to boot the ball to touch and the final score was 19-26.