Benson’s men put to sword at Barrow

WRAPPED UP: Jamie I’Anson (left) and Chris Baines (centre) get to grips with Barrow’s Mike Backhouse.

BARROW 38 OLDHAM 4

ROUGHYEDS coach Tony Benson admitted his side was still a work in progress after witnessing ruthless Barrow run his patched-up charges ragged.

The impressive home team ran in seven tries – five of them right through the heart of the Oldham defensive line – on a bitterly cold afternoon at Craven Park.

A rash of injuries to key forwards certainly contributed much to the Roughyeds' weak constitution down the middle.

Having opted not to risk recovering prop pairing Richard Mervill and Paul Highton at the coalface in pre-season, Benson lost the services of Dave Allen after only 13 minutes to a groin strain, Luke Menzies came off with a shoulder problem just after the break and Craig Robinson was carried off with 13 minutes left suffering from cramps.

In addition, Thomas Coyle sustained a blow to his jaw, Paul Reilly was feeling his troublesome shoulder and Anthony Bingham – who came on and again impressed in the second half, particularly in taking a high swirling ball under ahead of a clutch of players – hurt his back.

There were bright spots to take away from the game. Bingham and Scott Mansfield, who played most of the 80 minutes at loose forward with great efficiency following Allen's early withdrawal, both did well while the side as a whole looked cohesive and inventive in the first half, producing some clever moves with ball in hand and generally enjoying much of the play.

After the break, though, the injuries told and Barrow's clever playmakers in centre-field took advantage with relish.

"I thought we were doing pretty well out there in the first half and when Scott Mansfield and Anthony Bingham came on they certainly upped the enthusiasm levels in the game," said Benson.

"I thought we held our own there in the first half and that is the pleasing part, while in the second half it is obvious what happened there.

"To be fair, we did get into a panic situation at that point too. They just kept coming through our middle and that is something we have to work on so that when we get into that situation we know what to do next time to take control of the game better.

"Barrow are a big, strong, physical and fast side and they use the ball well and identified weaknesses we had and kept exploiting them."

Barrow were certainly very impressive and appear well-set for a play-off push following their promotion to the Co-operative Championship.

Andrew Ellis was dynamite at hooker and along with half-back pair Liam Campbell and Liam Finch caused major problems around the ruck all afternoon, while the powerful pack consistently had Oldham retreating.

Finch was first to benefit from Liam Campbell's sharp play, opening the scoring after the scrum-half chipped-and-chased his way through the defensive line on five minutes, though Roughyeds full-back Paul O'Connor will be disappointed not to have dealt with a loose ball. Paul Noone converted, the first of five successful efforts for the former Widnes second row.

Oldham fought their way back, though, and produced one of the day's best tries.

The 21st-minute score for winger Andy Ballard – his third in two games, following a double on debut at Leigh last week – which was created by way of a superb long cut-out pass from Thomas Coyle and a searing burst of speed from Marcus St Hilaire.

With the Roughyeds always searching for an offload in good field position, pertinent questions were being asked of the Raiders' rearguard and Reilly and St Hilaire had both gone close prior to Ballard's effort.

While Oldham also looked to produce variety on the last-tackle plays – the try being one such example – it was Ellis's own moment of magic which turned the game the way of the home team. Chipping, chasing and offloading as he went to ground, the number nine made one for Joe McKenna before Campbell's burst brought a further for James Nixon shortly before half-time.

The 16-4 score line at that stage flattered the home side slightly, but Dave Clark's men pressed home the advantage in the second half.

Brett McDermott fired over from close range on 44 minutes and shortly before the hour, poor tackling allowed big centre Liam Harrison to wriggle free on the left and supply Nixon for his second.

A flowing move involving Ellis, Campbell and finally Andrew Brocklehurst provided the next effort on 63 minutes.

Despite the fact the Roughyeds were struggling to get to grips with Barrow by this stage only one further try followed, Campbell going over four minutes from time.

Barrow: Broadbent; Backhouse, Larkin, Harrison, Nixon; Finch, Campbell; McDermott, Ellis, Butler, Bracek, Noone, Brocklehurst. Subs: Young, McKenna, Bell, Gordon, Cairns.

Tries: Finch, McKenna, Nixon 2, McDermott, Brocklehurst, Campbell.

Goals: Noone 5/7

Oldham: O'Connor; Ballard, St Hilaire, Reilly, Onyango; J Coyle, T Coyle; Kerr, Hoyle, Menzies, Robinson, Baines, Allen. Subs: Mansfield, Sutton, I'Anson, Bingham.