Job done after a sticky opening

GET AWAY . . . Danny Grimshaw dumps his Haydock opponent to the ground on his way in to score

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TAKE away Oldham's yawn of a start, during which Haydock fans dared to dream, and everything went according to plan.

The amateurs scrapped until they dropped, but once Scott Naylor's men had shaken themselves out of their early lethargy there was never going to be anything but a home victory in this fourth-round Ladbrokes Challenge Cup tie.

From 8-0 down inside 10 minutes, Roughyeds racked up 40 unanswered points before the Yickers hit the Yeds with the game's final salvo when Steve Jones went in on Jordan Gibson's beautifully-timed short ball.

CRACKING

Gibson, the Haydock captain and stand-off, had a cracking game, marred only when he was sin-binned after half an hour for illegally slowing down Oldham's play-the-ball.

Earlier, he scored the tie's first try and utilised a long kicking game to give Richard Lepori plenty of retrieving to do at the wettest end of a rain-soaked Bower Fold pitch.

Conditions underfoot were dodgy and handling was difficult, players of both sides losing their grip on the ball when tackled heavily.

Centre Dean Dollin used his speed to find an outside gap and slide over the line in George Tyson's tackle to put the amateurs 8-0 in front.

Time for Oldham to get their act together. Tyson set the lead, the entire side responded, and the writing for Haydock was on the wall when they succumbed to Roughyeds pressure by conceding a string of penalties - eight in a row, in fact.

With the count at four in a row they were given a team warning and next time they infringed Gibson was given the yellow card.

Already 10-8 down, Haydock were in a hole and, despite their best efforts and their big hearts, they trailed 20-8 at the interval after conceding tries by Lepori, Michael Ward, Tyson and Danny Grimshaw.

It was to Haydock's credit that they kept on working and battling to the end, though helpless to prevent further Oldham tries by Lepori (his second), Joe Burke, Kieran Gill and Adam Clay.

Scott Leatherbarrow converted four of the eight in dreadful kicking conditions. As midfield maestro, he produced another outstanding display, just as he did at Rochdale the week before against opposition that was far more testing than this.

His head protected to cover two nasty gashes, Leatherbarrow dictated and directed with the authority of a player who knew what he was doing and had the self-belief to do it.

He arrived at the club pre-season under a lot of pressure to successfully succeed Lewis Palfrey.

He toiled a little bit at first, but as the man who tactically commands the side, he now looks composed, confident and in total control.

PASSING

His kicking or passing led directly to several of Oldham's eight tries, the best of which were those scored by Lepori (his first), Grimshaw, Gill and Clay.

Leatherbarrow received from Jack Spencer to put 'Lippy' into space and the full-back raced through the gap to score Oldham's opening try out wide on the right.

Leatherbarrow and Ward combined to send in Grimshaw, Ward turning back the clock to his days as a centre when drawing his man and releasing Grimshaw with the perfect pass.

Gill's try was a beaut. Looking far more comfortable at centre than on the wing, he made an outside break, went clear with an outrageous dummy near half-way and slid over in the corner.

Then came arguably the best of the lot, Leatherbarrow producing a long, high-speed pass to the right which took out two defenders and gave Clay a walk-in at the corner.