Oldham Edge To Victory In Opening Home Fixture

Counties 2 adm Lancashire and Cheshire: Oldham 22-16 Fleetwood

Oldham entered the game having lost their opening game at Ormskirk seven days earlier. However, despite the loss, the Manor Park outfit hit back with intent and started with a meaningful attack to take a deserved 5-0 lead over Fleetwood in the early stages.

Fleetwood eventually settled down and started to see more of the ball and a combination of a good kicking game, some direct carrying and good handling out wide began to apply some pressure. A penalty reduced the deficit to 5-3 and a try in the corner gave the visitors a 3-8 lead. Whilst Oldham remained competitive and threatening, it was Fleetwood who increased the lead with a second try which started from an Oldham line out on the 22 but ended with a sweeping move which extended the lead to 5-13.

Oldham let themselves down with some I’ll discipline and a lack of composure at key moments. But they remained threatening and were rewarded when they secured a penalty 10m out. The scrum was going well but they opted for a kick to the corner and a line out. The throw was straight and caught by Adam Taquila. A strong maul was formed and once set the drive commenced and Rhys Jones touched down. A difficult conversation from close to the touchline was nailed by Jobson to make the score 12-13.  Shortly after this became 12-16 when Fleetwood converted a penalty on the stroke of half-time.

There was a rerun of the first half with Louis Fitton dotting down near the corner flag. Another superb conversion from Jobson gave Oldham a 19-16 lead. Fleetwood were clearly rattled at this stage and were making unforced errors. Fortunately for Oldham they also failed to identify a number of occasions when we had some front row forwards in the defensive line which would have struggled to contain their speedy backs.

Things took a turn for the worse for Oldham when the referee deemed influential loose head prop Tom Hannon, who was having a barnstorming game, guilty of cynical play at the breakdown on halfway and gave him a yellow card. In the red zone definitely, but it seemed a trifle harsh on halfway. But the Oldham 14 stepped up big time and the 10 minutes came and went without either side adding to the scoreboard.

Oldham had a lengthy spell defending their own line and you could see where the benefits of training kicked in as our organised defence proved to be impenetrable during a troubling time. Hannon returned and looked to have sealed the game for Oldham when he touched down after a powerful series of pick and drives close to the line. This would have given Oldham a two score lead with about 10 minutes to play. However, he was adjudged to have knocked on. Fortunately, Oldham had a penalty advantage and Jobson once again delivered the goods and they led 22-16. More misery soon followed when Davies got 10 minutes for a bit of back chat - in a game where there seemed to be a lot of back chat from both sides, and the hosts faced the last 10 minutes with 14 players.

Despite the numerical disadvantage and late barrage of attacks from Fleetwood, Oldham defended valiantly and saw the game to to take the win.

Picture: Oldham's Jack Sayle driving forward.