Benson remains positive after Leigh win

Photo: Maurice Jones

OLDHAM'S Jamie I’Anson is held by Adam Higson and Dave McConnell. Picture by MAURICE JONES.

LEIGH 28 OLDHAM 20

ROUGHYEDS coach Tony Benson was left with mixed feelings following this promising showing.

On the one hand, his team performed particularly well against higher-level opposition during the first half, defending manfully as well as producing some swift, alert attacks which resulted in three tries before the break.

On the other, against a side well marshalled by the returning scrum-half Ian Watson on the resumption, the Roughyeds eventually fell away from leading 16-12 to a narrow defeat which bit at Benson.

“It was a game we should have won and I’m disappointed that we didn’t,” said the Roughyeds coach, up against his old club at the new Leigh Sports Village Stadium. “We started to lose control of the ball and field position and gave away a few silly penalties which meant that when we looked like building pressure, it let them off the hook.

“I think one of the reasons for this is that we haven’t had much time on the field with the ball, but as a pre-season game we got a lot out of it.”

A number of players stood out for Oldham.

Dave Allen was again particularly impressive in the second row, running with vigour and intelligence and offering offloads aplenty as well as lightning play-the-balls and steely defence.

He wasn’t alone in a pack which at least matched Leigh’s throughout. Jamie I’Anson showed he has plenty of power packed into his stocky frame, while Chris Baines came up with several few meaty collisions.

Andy Ballard impressed on his debut on the right wing, forging a promising partnership with the equally impressive Danny Halliwell and picking up two tries and a pair of goals, while scrum-half Thomas Coyle caught the eye once again with his quick hands and intelligent use of possession.

Before the action got going, there was the surreal delaying of kick-off by 15 minutes due to crowd congestion – brought on by a decision to make the game all-ticket, which inevitably led to problems with late arrivers.

No attendance figure was given, but a rough estimate has it that there were around 2,000 fans inside. Not exactly Aintree on Grand National day, then.

Still, once the action got underway, the focus firmly switched to the pitch, on which there was some excellent action to take in.

Paul O’Connor was first on the score sheet for the visitors, shunning an overlap to twist and turn his way home following good work from Allen and Thomas Coyle in the build-up, with Ballard converting.

Leigh equalised on 18 minutes when impressive second row Adam Higson – later sin-binned following a minor flare-up with I’Anson – followed up Dave McConnell’s kick, Ian Mort adding the extras.

A lovely move down the left involving Coyle and Halliwell led to Ballard’s first on 25 minutes. Ballard again converted, leaving the Roughyeds 12-6 to the good.

It could have been better, had Marcus St Hilaire’s pass which put Lee Greenwood in the clear not been called forward, before Phil Joseph saw an unwise short pass gobbled up by Martyn Ridyard out on the left. Mort levelled the scores with a conversion, but there was still time for the Roughyeds to edge in front before the break.

There seemed little danger when Thomas Coyle decided to hoist a kick to the right corner on the last, but it was well-weighted and Ballard did well to claim the ball at full tilt on the half-volley and touch down all in one movement.

After that, the game became fragmented and scrappy while at the same time, the Centurions began to exert far more pressure with Watson’s kicking regularly pinning Oldham back.

Only one try came the visitors’ way in the second half, with more terrific work from Allen leading to Halliwell bursting in on the angle to dive over on the right.

That score, on 69 minutes, answered efforts from Mort and Dave Armitstead.

Good running and a well judged kick from Lee Marsh rounded off proceedings six minutes from time, leading to a try from Dale Cunliffe, goaled by Mort, which secured the win for Neil Kelly’s men.