Nanyn breaks Town hearts

FORWARDS BATTLE: Jason Boults (right) is held

2 More Image(s) In Gallery

WORKINGTON 14, OLDHAM 16

BETTER to be lucky than good, so the old saying goes.

In the five successive victories leading up to this nail-biter at Derwent Park, the Roughyeds hadn't needed to trust to good fortune too much, scoring points by the bucket load while keeping a tight lid on things defensively.

Here it was very different. Only Mick Nanyn's hat-trick try two minutes from time enabled Steve Deakin's side to snatch three invaluable points when defeat looked very much on the cards.

It was a very harsh verdict on a gutsy and not unskilful Workington side which had enjoyed the better of things overall – but nobody dressed in red-and-white was complaining about that.

And to top it off, news soon spread after the final whistle that previously-unbeaten Barrow had slipped to an unlikely defeat at Hunslet,

This Friday's top-of-table battle at Craven Park couldn't be more mouth-watering.

But to prosper in that tough environment, Oldham will have to control the ball much better than they did here.

Too often passes were forced early in the tackle count, while in playing behind a pack that was more than given a run for its money, the Roughyeds' half-backs failed to exert positive influence.

Town deserve plenty of credit. Oldham were regularly pinned back with clever kicking and the forwards – particularly in the shape of substitutes Chris Young and Matthew Tunstall – worked hard to match the visitors down the middle despite having to cope without any time on the bench due to injuries in the second half.

It could have been so different, especially had Stephen Dawes' 'try' in the 68th minute been allowed to count.

With his side ahead 14-12, the Town winger dived on full-back Jay Duffy's kick to the corner – one of a number of incisive last-tackle plays from the home side – and celebrated the score, only for the touch judge to rule he had edged out of the field of play.

And the Roughyeds, who had to cope with injuries to Said Tamghart, Rob Roberts and Paul O'Connor, edged it thanks to Nanyn's 16-point haul.

The visitors started the game on the front foot, as poor ball control from the home side gifted plenty of good field position.

It was no surprise when the pressure yielded a positive result on 11 minutes, as acting dummy half Nanyn took advantage of a less than watertight Workington defence close to the line.

The centre converted his own try, before Town claimed a response out of the blue.

Lively hooker Scott Burgess made a burst straight through the middle of the Roughyeds' defence and ran through exposed full-back Paul O'Connor to dive home under the posts.

Forber's boot brought the scores level and, crucially, the score gave a Town team low on confidence in recent weeks something to believe in.

It got even better for the home side midway through the first half.

Bryce Poisel's short kick saw a cluster of bodies go for a ball which appeared to be on its way out behind the posts.

Forber, though, flew into the air to superbly scoop it back in to the danger zone and Poisel was on hand to jump on the chance.

Another conversion by Forber gave Workington a 12-6 lead they held on to until half-time.

And it could have been even worse for Oldham before the break as Young went very close to touching down Forber's grubber, but just failed to ground the ball before it went out of play.

At the other end, Roberts had almost claimed a Said Tamghart pass after a powerful burst from the French star – who went off injured soon after – and Tommy Goulden almost got on the end of a Neil Roden ball with seconds to go. But it just wasn't quite happening.

Oldham drew level five minutes into a tense second half, Nanyn extending an arm to touch down a Tommy Goulden pass before knocking over a conversion to pull level.

But elementary mistakes in possession continued to stymie Oldham's attacking play and even though they were clearly flagging, Workington seemed to have things under control after going 14-12 up thanks to a 49th-minute Forber penalty awarded for a high tackle.

Then, with the clock ticking down, Ian Hodson managed to break a tackle and create the overlap which allowed Nanyn to turn the game on its head.

No faulting our effort— Deakin

STEVE Deakin was pleased to escape with three points despite the Roughyeds not quite ever coming to life at Derwent Park.

Oldham were matched all the way by an enthusiastic effort from Workington, who looked set for a notable win before Mick Nanyn's hat-trick try two minutes from time prevented a costly defeat.

And the Roughyeds coach, though unhappy with his team's poor ball control, was quick to give praise to the home side.

"Sometimes, people who see that you got through at the end will think you played poorly," said Deakin.

"But why not give credit to the opposition?

"They were hugely enthusiastic and while they were in front believed they could get the result.

"Our execution wasn't good enough and we made too many errors, a lot of them unforced.

"That said, one thing we couldn't be faulted for today was effort. It might have been misdirected at times, but we made more tackles, 246, than in the Wakefield (Challenge Cup) game.

"We put our bodies on the line. Two Bobs broke his hand early on, Said Tamghart had to come off with a dead leg, as did Paul O'Connor.

"We disrespected a few of the basic principles and tried to force play to get a result at 12-12 and that was disappointing. We could see that they were busted and we gave them a reason to keep on believing.

"We just didn't quite have that spark about us. But the good thing is that we got the three points."

The result means the Roughyeds have reduced the gap between themselves and Friday evening's opponents, Barrow, who fell to an unexpected 15-10 loss at Hunslet, to four points.

"I will repeat what I have said after every game: everybody can beat everybody else at this level," Deakin added.

"If you don't believe me, ring Dave Clark at Barrow, whose side were beaten by Hunslet.
"We went there the other week and put 66 points on Hunslet. But that is the nature of the beast.

"If you want to know how good a team Workington are capable of being, look at the game where they beat Doncaster 30-6 here.

"We don't have a god-given right to win games and I don't think we earned the right today. But we stuck at it."