Rugged Roughyeds claim sixth win in eight

Photo: PICTURES: CHRIS SUNDERLAND

UNDER PRESSURE: Oldham’s David Cookson holds possession.

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OLDHAM 26, HEMEL STAGS 18

A CLUE to the mental make-up of a tough Oldham side that climbed to second place in the division with a 26-18 win against Hemel Stags was the post-game reaction of captain Lewis Palfrey.

The defeat at London Skolars of the Roughyeds’ nearest and dearest, Rochdale Hornets, had elevated Scott Naylor’s men to new heights in Championship One.

Three tries in eight minutes late in the game, by Danny Langtree, Kenny Hughes and Jon Ford, had carried them to safety in a hitherto evenly-matched contest which ultimately provided them with their sixth win in eight outings.

A pile of positives for Palfrey - but the young captain was having none of it. He was more concerned with the way Stags had been allowed to score a consolation try in the dying seconds for a bonus point.

He said: “We did well, but we had a few lapses. We had talked about killing the game off once we had built a substantial lead, but we didn’t do it. We are really disappointed to concede that last try.”

Oldham had to scrap every inch of the way to complete a double against the Championship One new boys. Despite playing up the slope first half and into the teeth of a fierce wind, they restricted Roughyeds to a 10-4 interval lead and then went 12-10 up midway through the second half only to be killed off by a magnificent riposte from the home side.

Naylor’s men have developed a remarkable self-belief in their ability to come from behind and take teams apart in the last 20 minutes. They’ve done it several times before and they repeated it here in another gripping contest.

Oldham hit their best when it was their turn to play uphill and into the wind; minor obstacles these to a young side whose superior fitness and stamina is in evidence match after match.

Once the props had laid down the foundations, the other members of the middle unit, like tearaway Sam Gee, Adam Files and Kenny Hughes, took the tiring visitors apart with their lightning breaks from dummy half or with their enthusiastic support work up the side of the rucks.

Ward had a blinder in the second half. So did Salford’s Walne, a late call-up to the side when Jason Boults was ruled out with a broken finger, sustained in training on Thursday night.

Of all these top second-half performances, though, the stand-out was that from Gee, who started the game as hooker, but spent most of it at loose-forward and revelled in the role when leading the charge and picking his spots to surge into the very heart of an overworked Hemel defence.

With Mo Agoro failing a late fitness test, Naylor set off with Richard Lepori on the wing and Steven Nield drafted in at full-back.

They were to swop positions later, but not before Nield had taken Oldham into a six-point interval lead with a great try.

Dale Bloomfield, his opposite winger, opened the scoring in the 13th minute after quick left-to right movement of the ball featuring Palfrey, Anthony Bowman and Ford.

Palfrey couldn’t convert from the touchline, and nor could Hemel marksman BJ Swindells after Caton-Brown’s first try midway through the half.

At 4-4 it was nip and tuck as half-time approached. Then Walne made a decisive break down the middle; Palfrey got with him; and the supporting Nield capitalised by juggling with a loose ball before gaining control and diving over in one movement for a try which Palfrey improved.

Early in the second half, a lucky bounce from a kick ricochet gave Caton-Brown his second try, Swindells levelling at 10-10 with the conversion.

There was little to choose between the sides at this stage, but Stags went ahead for the first time with a long-range, wind-assisted penalty goal.

Definitely time for Oldham to step up a gear – and they did it on the back of three consecutive penalties which was a clear indication that Hemel were starting to flag.

Sensing it, the home forwards took the game to the Stags, began to punch massive holes up the middle and got their reward when the outstanding Gee sent in Danny Langtree.

Minutes later, after more stunning work by the men up front, Palfrey worked his magic out on the right, straightened up the attack and sent in Hughes with an inside ball.

Still not finished, Roughyeds rolled in for a fifth and final try when Ford raced over wide out on the left to finish the job.

Palfrey finished with three goals from five shots to take his side 26-12 clear before that last-minute lapse which allowed Ben Young to score a consolation try for the visitors.

Nevertheless, it was another tough job well done by Naylor’s men who are starting to put real pressure on table-topping Crusaders.