Oldham edged out by Eccles

ADM Premier Division: Eccles 13-10 Oldham

Oldham kicked off into the driving wind and rain and it appeared to suit them very well.

Eccles made a hash of things and the visitors drove them off their own scrum ball and the Oldham forwards were making real in roads into the Eccles defence. But the Eccles tackling was very good so yards proved hard to come by but in a battle of attrition around the breakdown, the Oldham pack were generally advancing. But the conditions were such that the error count and discipline would inevitably have a major role to play in the outcome of this game.

Oldham looked likely to open the scoring on a number of occasions, but a combination of a resolute home defence and a couple of forced and unforced errors meant they didn't convert their ascendency into points.  Eccles were bravely looking to play an expansive game in the challenging conditions when in possession and this played into their hands as it was difficult to execute passing moves accurately.

Oldham opened the scoring when a series of penalties gave them good field position in the 22. A series of drives were repelled but ultimately Froggatt barged over from close range. The difficult conversion into the driving elements went just wide and Oldham led 0-5. This forced Eccles into a rethink, and they began to pursue territory. This immediately paid dividends and Oldham struggled to get out of their own half. They started to rack up penalties, but their own defence was good and Eccles didn't really look like scoring a try. So it came as no surprise when they chose a shot at goal when awarded a penalty and the lead was reduced to 3-5.  Oldham would have taken 3-5 at half time, but a lack of discipline once again cost them dearly. They were going forward on the Eccles 10m line when they gave away a soft penalty. That’s a bad error of course in the circumstances, but to massively compound this error, and not for the first time, someone had their own personal view of the incident which they made known to the referee.

As was inevitable and correct, he advanced the penalty 10m to the halfway line. As a direct consequence of this foolish indiscipline, the Eccles kicker fancied his chances with a strong wind behind him. It looked a gutsy shout with the difficult conditions and very heavy ground underfoot, but he struck it sweetly and it sailed beneath the posts to give Eccles a 6-5 halftime lead.

To be trailing by one point at half time wasn't a bad outcome in the circumstances and Oldham showed enough going forward to make you believe that they should be able to turn it around in the second half. The set piece was solid and the forward attrition was generally good. The defence around the pitch was generally very good.  It was certainly a day to be a forward where you were in the thick of the action.You had to feel sorry for the touch judge Mel Garner who was totally exposed to the elements all afternoon and was no doubt wishing that it was still the cricket season. Just to give you an indication of quite how miserable it was the cameraman Paul had to stop filming on the 50 minute mark to prevent any permanent damage to the lens and inner workings of his camera. 

The words that should have been at the forefront of Oldham's thoughts in the second half should have been territory, field position and discipline. There were easy yards on offer, and it was inevitable that every yard would be a tough one for Eccles. Or so they hoped. Unfortunately, Oldham did more or less the opposite and as their frustration grew, their discipline deteriorated. This gave the home side a lot of confidence and most of the rest of the game was played in their half of the pitch. Despite this, Eccles never really looked like capitalising on their dominance. They transgressed far too often and eventually Froggatt got a yellow card for a team offence. In his 10 minute absence, Eccles increased their lead when a speculative kick through inevitably performed like a bar of soap. It ended up in Eccles hands and a successful conversion increased their lead to 13-5.

Froggatt returned but Oldham's woes continued as their kicking game continued to misfire.  But as the light faded and the game moved into its final throes Oldham were once again on the scoreboard. A kick into the Eccles 22 found space and, as the defence hesitated, the ever alert Taquila, who unfortunately found himself on the wing, managed to poke the ball into the 22 and hunted down and touchdown to reduce the score to 13-10. To sum up Oldham’s day, nobody brought the kicking tee on and a conversion that could have reduced the arrears to a single point was made twice as difficult and was missed. Eccles managed to close out the final few minutes and the final score was 13-10. That try however secured a bonus point.