Agoro saves the day for Roughyeds

Photo: PICTURES by MAX FLEGO

Oldham’s Mo Agoro makes the points-clinching tackle to deny London Skolars at the end of the game

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SKOLARS 16, OLDHAM 18

TEAM sports are alive with stories of defining moments.

Oldham supporters witnessed one in the dying seconds of a contest in North London that was too close to call.

Struggling to hold big London forwards, Roughyeds were hanging on to an 18-16 lead with time running out.

Skolars bust through Oldham’s midfield defence, drew full-back Tom Whitehead and put his scrum-half Matt Bradley into the clear. With the visitors’ defence torn apart, Bradley looked set to score the winning try until Mo Agoro came from nowhere on the far side of the field.

Sheer speed and an uncanny appreciation of what was needed allowed him to run a perfect angle and chop down the lively home half-back just short of the line, forcing him — in the referee’s opinion anyway — to lose possession as he stretched out for his moment of glory.

In a flash that glory switched to Agoro.

“I saw the Skolars’ move unfolding from out on the right wing,” he said. “I had a lot of ground to cover and I knew I had to get to him quickly or Skolars would have won the game. I just made it, and he knocked-on in trying to get over the line.”

Bradley claimed he kept his grip on the ball and scored a legitimate try. Referee Chris Kendall would have none of it.

Oldham thus picked up, by the skin of their teeth, their eighth league point from nine. For the third game in a row they looked defensively suspect in the second half, and despite the best efforts of their best forwards — Jason Boults, Ward, Josh Crowley and Sam Gee — the game seemed to be slipping away when pacy Skolars’ second-row man Worrincy scored his second try 11 minutes before the end.

Skolars would have nicked it but for that Agoro tackle - so full marks to him and full marks to the team for collective effort, qualities that saw them home despite defensive weakness and a failure to turn attacking pressure into points.

One has to credit Skolars for strong defence when in separate incidents they held up Gee, Wood, Crowley and centre Edwin Okanga-Ajwang over the line. But there were times when Oldham’s execution should have been better. Sheer strength took the impressive Ward over for a third-minute try which Palfrey improved. The visitors’ only other first-half score was a long-distance interception try by Okanga-Ajwang, again goaled by Palfrey.

They regained the lead 11 minutes into the second half when Robinson scored a solo try, selling two or three dummies to defenders who expected him to kick. Instead he showed them the ball, spotted the gap and scored from close range.

Robinson might have had another if Langtree’s break had proved more successful, but after that Skolars started to get on top again and set up that nerve-jangling last few minutes.