Starting as they mean to go on

I'M LOOKING AT YOU...Phil Joy, of Oldham, charges towards the Sheffield Eagles line

IT couldn't have worked out better had it been scripted.

Castleford Tigers loan out their 19-year-old star-in-the-making, Tuoyo Egodo, to Oldham to gain experience in the rough, tough world of Championship rugby and in game one he goes head to head with Menzie Yere, the strongest, meanest, most intimidating middle back outside of Super League.

A modern-day version of the Papua New Guinea legend that was Stanley Gene in his playing days, Menzie is the nicest guy you could wish to meet . . . off the field that is and away from the heat of battle.

Put him in a Sheffield shirt and he's one mean machine - the toughest tackler in the division according to Oldham coach Scott Naylor; and it wasn't difficult here to see how he got that reputation.

Just after half time he nearly broke young Tuoyo in two with a sledge-hammer of a hit that caused the Londoner to spill the ball.

It was neither the first nor the last time they clashed head on, but the boy who is clearly going to be a Bower Fold favourite responded in magnificent fashion.

No lightweight himself, he smashed Menzie to the ground the next time he was carrying the ball and was then quickly on his feet again to give Menzie's fellow PNG powerhouse Garry Lo a taste of the same medicine.

With those two tackles alone, Tuoyo Egodo proved that he can hack it at Championship level. He's raw and likely to do the outrageous, but until Roughyeds come up against Sheffield again, he won't meet any back-line opponents as formidable as the united forces of Menzie Yere and Garry Lo.

Tuoyo passed his test with head held high - just one of several sure signs from this match that Roughyeds are starting to get things right again after a mediocre, at best, pre-season campaign.

PRESSURE

They started nervously, let Matty Fozard score from dummy half to see Sheffield go 6-0 up inside five minutes, and made a few errors with the ball to put themselves under more pressure.

The turning point came 17 minutes in when Scott Turner dived over the Eagles line from dummy half only to knock-on in the act of scoring. It was to be the first of three good chances that Roughyeds blew.

There was another when Keiran Gill, playing on the left wing, squeezed over in the corner only to spill the ball and a third when Adam Neal, who had a stunning game, failed by inches to get downward movement on a Scott Leatherbarrow grubber to the line.

Oldham were gaining in confidence and before half-time they got the try they deserved when, somewhat fortuitously, Danny Langtree's kick ricocheted off Lo and allowed the Oldham second-row forward to hack the ball forward again and touch down.

IMPETUS

It gave Naylor's men the impetus to dictate the second half when attacking down the slope.

Eagles were to score one more try in the corner by winger Ryan Millar, while Oldham piled on 22 second-half points with tries by Sammy Gee, David Hewitt and Langtree again, plus three conversions and two penalty goals by Leatherbarrow.

This was more like the Oldham of old.

Gee pushed over from dummy half; Hewitt sniffed out an interception try direct from an Eagles scrum, just as he did at Barrow in the friendly; and Langtree scored his second when Gareth Owen trundled the ball into the Eagles in-goal area and the comeback boy did the rest.

It was good to see two-try Langtree back to his best after injury; Danny Grimshaw on the field for the first time this season; Jack Spencer giving arguably his best performance in an Oldham jersey; and Adam Neal leading the forwards magnificently.

It was a hugely encouraging start to the competition. Only 29 more games to go now, each demanding this level of commitment, endeavour and execution.