REPORT: Ormskirk 22 Oldham RUFC 14

Oldham opened their 22/23 league campaign with a fast- paced, competitive and entertaining game at Ormskirk.

Ormskirk were much quicker out of the blocks and for the first 20 minutes Oldham struggled to leave their half, and it was no surprise when Ormskirk took the lead with a converted try from close range by their talented and influential fly half Nat Wildman. 7-0

However, Oldham began to claw their way back into the game and led by Rob Froggatt, the best forward on show, and centres Ryan Pickles and Ryan Arundale created several overlaps and try scoring opportunities but sadly, failed to cross the line.

The second half saw Oldham make another slow start and a good handling move created an overlap for the home side to extend their lead to 14-0. However, Oldham rallied, and with the pack working well and skipper Tom Davies cleverly exploiting the tricky wind, began to take a grip on the game and 2 tries, one by Froggatt and the second by Pickles, both converted superbly from the touchline by Alex Jobson, gave Oldham hope. 14 -14. Game on.

Both Jobson, who excelled in his new role at 9 (regular 9 Phil Whitham out for several weeks with a broken collar bone) and Adam Takila were held inches short before Oldham let an Ormskirk midfield "hoof and hope" kick bounce, allowing them to regather and score in the corner after swift, simple handling showed the way to exploit overlaps, as their left wing flying machine had just enough room on the outside to touch down. 19- 14 down and 10 minutes to play.

Oldham could, and possibly, should have done more as they attacked, and with four own feed scrums and a succession of penalties in the opposition 20 a try seemed inevitable but Ormskirk with an enthusiastic and committed effort, held them at bay, when a little more composure would surely have brought the visitors another try. A successful last minute penalty however sealed the points for Ormskirk.

Lots to praise for the coaches, and great entertainment for the travelling spectators to enjoy. The game was superbly referee, played in a good spirit with a complete absence of yellow cards (a rare occurrence these days). The effort was first-class, the discipline was good, chances were created from set pieces and broken play, and there was some outstanding individual defence. Fleetwood, runaway winners this week are the next challenge and here's hoping our coaches have the selection problems of “who should we leave out?" and not “who should we phone next to try to make up the squad?”

Images by Tim Abram

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