HUGS BETTER: Mick Nanyn (blue cap) is mobbed by his team-mates after extending Oldham’s lead.

MOTORING: Oldham winger Lucas Onyango clicks into top gear to surge away from a Dewsbury Rams opponent.

SIMEON Hoyle congratulates try scorer Tommy Goulden (right) in front of jubilant Oldham fans during yesterday’s 58-12 Challenge Cup win .

10-TRY ROUGHYEDS ROAR INTO QUARTER-FINALS

Dewsbury 12, Oldham 58

by MATTHEW CHAMBERS at the Tetley’s Stadium

THE Roughyeds have been roundly criticised in recent weeks for not bludgeoning home their superiority in matches.

That certainly isn’t an accusation that could be levelled at the team yesterday.

Once a sticky opening had been negotiated, Oldham overwhelmed their National League One opponents in every facet of the game to glide into the last eight of the Carnegie Challenge Cup.

Ten tries were scored by the visitors — four by second row forward Tommy Goulden — as a result of slick ball and player movement that the beleaguered Rams simply couldn’t deal with.

Every player did his bit on a day to remember in the baking hot sun. Scrum-half James Coyle was highly influential, buzzing around to score two tries as well as creating three, and his positive influence rubbed off on the rest of the team.

The ball was continually spread out wide at pace, giving players like Mick Nanyn and Lucas Onyango the sort of ball they have been crying out for lately, while the effort in the forwards was again outstanding and the main factor in breaking Dewsbury’s resolve.

And the tries . . . Well, there were some terrific efforts. But one in particular, when Nanyn — scorer of 26 points, missing only one conversion — supplied an improvised basketball-style chest pass out of the tackle and straight into the stomach of onrushing scorer Onyango stands out.

That came in the midst of a stunning spell containing five inside 20 second-half minutes which really stuck the knife in for the disappointed home fans inside the Tetley’s Stadium.

Their team, perhaps weary from a tough midweek test against Widnes, wilted badly after coming up with a lively start.

There is no doubt, though, that in the Roughyeds they were up against a good-level National League One team which just happens to play in National League Two.

No other conclusion can be drawn — not when the hit list of NL1 sides for coach Steve Deakin now comprises Salford, Whitehaven and Dewsbury.

The Roughyeds even played out most of this almost flawless display without inspirational captain Rob Roberts, who retired early in the first half with a pulled hamstring.

Dewsbury emerged at a lively pace when the game got under way, testing out Onyango with the first of a number of steepling kicks and forcing a repeat set.

Oldham went ahead when, after spreading the play across a firm pitch, Coyle popped up on the left to step and stretch an arm across the line.

The Rams came back strongly, enjoying most of the ball and plenty of good field position, but a Marcus St Hilaire breakaway down the left, almost creating a score for full-back Paul O’Connor, provided another early warning sign for the home side.

Some heroic defence was needed to stem the flow of attack from coach Andy Kelly’s Dewsbury team, who were searching for a much-needed win.

But the barrier was breached when, amazingly, the Rams weren’t penalised for lifting Chris Baines above the horizontal. Choice words were issued to referee Gareth Hewer, who then awarded a penalty and after Dean Lawford teased the defence, David Rourke piled over.

From that point on, despite the loss of Roberts, clinical Oldham seized full control.

Goulden waltzed in on the left from Coyle’s pass before repeating the trick off a Neil Roden ball, following up good work from the ever dangerous Onyango and O’Connor.

Joe Helme almost reduced the arrears for Dewsbury before half-time, but Oldham were good value for their 18-6 lead.

After the break, with confidence at sky-high levels the visitors continued to dominate with an exciting brand of rugby.

Again, Roden found Goulden running straight into a huge gap out on the left for his third, Nanyn converting for a 24-6 lead, and salt was rubbed into a now gaping Dewsbury wound when Austin Buchanan’s ‘try’ was ruled out for a forward pass in the build-up on the advice of a touch judge.

Then came Nanyn’s miracle pass for Onyango, before more good quick ball movement created space for Coyle to dart in on the right.

Goulden’s fourth, another walk-in effort exposing a bedraggled line, followed that up before lovely interchange of passing saw Nanyn exchange with Onyango before touching down.

Dominic Maloney scored a short-range consolation, converted again by Patrick Walker, prior to another wonderful sweeping move involving great body and and ball movement and support play from Oldham which ended with Simon Baldwin sending in Nanyn for his second.

Finally, on the hooter, Coyle fired a lovely pass out for Richard Mervill to crash home down the middle, to the delight of the Oldham supporters watching on the grass bank behind the posts.


     

Players were outstanding, says Deakin

STEVE Deakin emerged from a tough week a very content man, as the Roughyeds did him proud by destroying National League One side Dewsbury.

Having endured a sloppy display at home to Blackpool last time out, the Oldham coach said he was considering his position.

Club officials swiftly rallied to his support and Deakin decided to stay on ahead of the big Challenge Cup encounter at the Tetley’s Stadium.

If his comments were designed to provoke a response from his players, it certainly did the trick as Oldham completed a stunning 10-try demolition job on the hapless Rams.

“I was pleased with our response to our last performance,” Deakin said.

“The boys were pretty excited by the prospect of coming here, putting on a performance and hopefully getting us into the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup.

“And we got everything out of the game that we deserved.

“People played to their potential today. A lot of it is down to application, and personal preparation.

“I felt comfortable all day, ever since getting onto the bus. The boys were focused on the sessions during the week in order to give themselves the chance to perform as they did.

“The opportunity to play in big games is a great motivating factor and players do motivate themselves.

“From the end of Saturday’s session to coming into the game on Sunday, they have to do their part, and all 17 who played today did an outstanding job in that respect.

“I’ve been as critical as anybody of people I don’t feel are putting it in. Today, everybody came up with an ‘A-plus’ game.”

Deakin’s delight was evident in his appreciation not only of the exciting way the team threw the ball around, but also in the strong defence which kept out Dewsbury, even when under intense pressure in the opening stages of the fifth round tie.

“Dewsbury at no stage ever laid down and died. If you look at the quality of tries that we scored, we created them,” added Deakin, who also spoke of the “great lines” run by four-try hero Tommy Goulden.

“They were footballing tries — not intercepts, or poor missed tackles.

“We got the ball to the holes and where we felt we could threaten them, and executed well. We actually ran at a 90-per-cent set completion rate in the second half.

“If you are enthusiastic, you get the support plays and our support play today was exemplary.

“We can play football. But defensively, we were so strong that it put dints in them and meant when we carried the ball, we could go through them.

“We were brutal in defence. They had all the ball for the first 10 minutes, but thereafter I just don’t think they looked like scoring on us.

“We needed a good performance defensively and offensively, perhaps putting a score on a team like that.

“We were outstanding today and I’m proud of all the boys and delighted for the club.”      

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