Crowley is the hero

Josh Crowley celebrates his match-winning try.

1 More Image(s) In Gallery

Oldham 24, Hunselt 23

IT was a game that had the lot — good rugby, nine tries, a bit of biff and bash, yellow cards, a frantic finale and a match-winning hero in Josh Crowley.

From 23-16 down with 10 minutes left, Oldham kept their unbeaten home record intact with an all-action fightback up the Whitebank slope to snatch a 24-23 win in this Championship One top-three thriller.

Danny Langtree scored out wide on the right, but Lewis Palfrey rushed his conversion attempt and put it wide, leaving his side still requiring another try to win.

Both sides were down to 12 men, Oldham’s George Tyson and Hunslet’s Michael Haley having been sin-binned for fighting a few minutes earlier.

Already starting to tire, Hunslet went to pieces with Haley’s departure, but they probably thought they had done enough when Thomas Coyle thumped a huge drop goal from near the half-way line to give them that seven-point lead.

Langtree’s try gave Roughyeds renewed hope, while Hunslet began to panic and give away a string of penalties, notably in their eagerness to put a stop to the rampaging Michael Ward.

The more Ward was targeted, the more he took the ball in — and the more penalties Roughyeds accrued as they turned the screw.

As the clock ran down, new-boy Gareth Owen was stopped on the line, big Ben Wood was held up over the line and then came the try that brought the house down.

Palfrey cross-kicked high to the left, tall boy Jon Ford reached high to knock the ball back and Crowley gathered it in to crash over in the corner despite the attentions of three desperate defenders.

They used their combined strength and weight in their bid to force him into touch, but Crowley somehow held them at bay long enough to get in at the corner first.

Oldham fielded a new-look side with Adam Clay making his home debut on the left wing and Oldham-born Owen, signed on loan from Salford only on Friday afternoon, playing his first game for the club as starting hooker.

Returning on the bench after several weeks out came half-back Brett Robinson, to be used in a new role as Owen’s replacement in the key dummy-half role.

Despite having had only one training session with his new team mates — the day before the game — Owen had no difficulty fitting in.

A busy player who will chase anything in order to make things happen, he twice followed Palfrey kicks to put Hunslet’s full-back under pressure and was unlucky on both occasions not to be rewarded with vital possession.

He gave a slick service from acting half-back and put in a big shift of 55 minutes although playing his first game for a month.

The other new boy, Clay, got his Whitebank career off to the best possible start with a long-range try as early as the fourth minute.

Steve Roper, Crowley and Ford shifted the ball swiftly from right to left and Clay hared off up the wing before beating Hawks full-back Jimmy Watson on the line to score his first Oldham try.

Danny Grimshaw, impressive throughout for the visitors, pulled a try back midway through the half before Roughyeds rattled up 12 more points in the space of seven minutes in the run-up to half-time.

Ward’s quick play-the-ball created the momentum for Langtree and Liam Thompson to push for the line and when the ball went loose off a retreating defender, Steven Nield took advantage to score Oldham’s second try.

Roper and Crowley were causing no end of trouble down Hunslet’s right flank and it was their link-up that sent in Robinson for the third try, which Palfrey improved for a 16-6 interval lead.

As often happens at Whitebank, the side playing down the slope capitalised, and in the second half it was Hunslet’s turn to enjoy it.

Oldham resumed brightly enough, but a rare Crowley error gave the ball away and it was a long time before Roughyeds got it back.

For the first time in the game, the home side began to make mistakes and concede penalties as Hunslet got well on top.

Three tries in 13 minutes by Lee Brickwood, the hugely impressive Watson and James Houston, two of them goaled by Andy Ballard, took them into a 22-16 lead, to which Coyle added his drop goal to ensure that Oldham would have to score at least twice.

There was a sign of things to come when Ward was put on report for an over-zealous challenge and, sure enough, it all blew up after 68 minutes when rival players traded punches and Haley and Tyson were shown yellow cards after the referee consulted his touch judges.

Play resumed with a penalty to Oldham, after which the Hawks lost their way and Naylor’s men stormed home on a wet sail.

They were worthy winners and, judging by the reception they received as they left the field, they were back in favour with fans after their big defeat at York seven days earlier.