Roughyeds hit back in style

TRY TIME as Wayne Kerr shrugs off John Clough to score.

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Oldham 36, Blackpool 18

SPORTS fans are a fickle bunch.

Trailing 18-4 at half-time, Oldham’s players headed to the dressing room to a chorus of boos, whistles and a few choice words of advice from the paying customers.

Fifty or so minutes later, some of those supporters were on their feet, clapping their heroes in red and white hoops. They won’t witness a more dramatic comeback in Co-operative Championship One this season and there are another 17 games to go.

Roughyeds ran in 32 unanswered points, thanks to six tries — two each from Wayne Kerr and Lee Greenwood — and four goals from the boot of Andy Ballard to leave Blackpool Panthers shell-shocked.

It was a stunning turnaround after a first half which, from an Oldham point of view, was simply abysmal.

Missed tackles, forward passes and knock-ons. It was basic stuff, but Tony Benson’s boys could do nothing right.

James Coyle was the first culprit, the stand-off inexcusably failing to find touch from a penalty award. Seconds later Dean Hatton was in for Blackpool’s opening try.

Tom Woodcock went over again for the visitors, before former Roughyeds Gareth Langley added a third just after the midway point of the first half.

Blackpool, coached by ex-Oldham Bears captain Martin Crompton, were labelled as dark horses for the league crown. At this stage they were living up to that tag.

One grain of comfort for the Roughyeds was that none of the three tries were converted. The normally ever-so-reliable Johnny Leather missed two and Hatton the other.

Numb, the home side were desperate for a quick riposte and Tommy Goulden, who had only been on the pitch a matter of minutes, provided it.

With a toehold in the game, Oldham sought to eat into Blackpool’s eight-point advantage.
Unfortunately another error led to the Roughyeds conceding a fourth try. Panthers were down to 12 men — John Clough was in the sin bin — when Mel Alker created confusion in centre field and Langley was able finish off the move in the right corner. Langley, this time, took over the kicking duties and made no mistake.

The boos rang out. Now for the fightback.

It was by no means instantaneous but, lifted from their slumbers through the combined efforts of Phil Joseph, Goulden and captain Robert Roberts, Oldham finally got into gear.

Paul Reilly, who had recovered from a dead leg to take his place in the 13, scooted over after a break from Goulden and Greenwood. Reilly, along with Langley, were sin-binned moments later for a minor altercation.

Then Greenwood claimed a pass from Thomas Coyle to make it 99 career tries. Ever so slowly the tide was turning in Oldham’s favour.

The winger would go on to reach his century, but not before Wayne Kerr made his large presence felt.

The big Ireland prop burst through the Blackpool line to level the scores. Ballard’s conversion put Oldham in front for the first time.

Kerr, with another bulldozing run, scored his second try five minutes later. The tide had suddenly become an unstoppable raging torrent of points.

Blackpool were shattered and they were down to 12 men for a third time in the match, Craig Farrimond the culprit.

Greenwood, who started the move, doubled his tally for the afternoon after the ball had darted through the hands of Ballard and Paul O’Connor, before Ballard himself gathered Thomas Coyle’s pass for Oldham’s seventh try.

Smiles on the pitch and smiles off it, too.




Patience a virtue for Benson

TONY BENSON was always certain Oldham would overpower Blackpool Panthers even through they trailed by 14 points at the interval.

The Roughyeds chief also praised the players for showing character and determination to make up for a terrible first-half display.

He said: “I don’t think I’ve coached a team that have been booed off the field before. It wasn’t a very nice feeling.

“Training throughout the week had been the best it had ever been, the warm-up was the best we’ve ever had, the feeling in the dressing room was superb, but what can I say, we were awful.

“We deserved to be 18 points to four down, but going into the changing rooms at half-time I was absolutely confident we could turn it around.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in our boys and we knew what we had to do and I’m proud of the fact we did it.

“I wasn’t angry with the players, I felt for them. They were possibly at times trying too hard and that was part of our problem.

“I knew there was a lot more there and I just asked them to give it.

“There is lots of room for improvement. We still did some silly things, but our completion rate was up to 90-per-cent in the last 20 minutes and we dropped less ball, which is what happens when you wear a team down.

“We needed to be patient and if we’ve learned anything is that if we stick to what we do best we’ll grind teams down.”