Roughyeds pay for slow start
Reporter: MATTHEW CHAMBERS
Date published: 23 March 2009
Keighley 34, Oldham 26
IT ISN’T often that you glance out of the press box at a time-worn rugby league ground to be greeted by the sight of a political master puppeteer.
Alastair Campbell, formerly a spokesperson for Prime Minister Tony Blair, is a son of Keighley and had been invited along to the game by the hosts after revealing on his blog that he had once dreamed of turning out for the Cougars.
Famously, Campbell was adept at spinning news stories to keep negative publicity at bay.
However, even he would have a job on his hands obscuring what was obvious yet again from an Oldham viewpoint: this is a team that does not start games well at all.
This defeat – a third in successive years in away league matches at Keighley – has already put a spanner in the works’ of the Roughyeds’ season with just two games gone.
But plenty of top sides will take points from each other in the course of what is sure to be a fiercely contested Co-operative Championship One season.
What is every bit as concerning as the final result is that Tony Benson’s men again seemed unable to take a game by the scruff of the neck from the off. This time, it cost them dearly.
The game could hardly have started more positively from an Oldham perspective.
Andy Ballard’s long kick-off bounced out of play and from the resulting drop-out, the Roughyeds gained possession with Paul O’Connor finding Danny Halliwell running a good angle on the inside to score.
Instead of building on that promising start, the Roughyeds ceded the initiative - as they had done in games past against Hunslet, Sharlston Rovers, to an extent, and, only last week, Blackpool.
George Raynor quickly set the Cougars on their way five minutes after Halliwell’s opener, causing havoc with a weaving run down centre field which Jon Presley capitalised on.
Captain Robert Roberts then went off with a rib injury, adding the the loss in the warm-up of pulled hamstring victim Tommy Goulden. Chris Baines came into the second row in Goulden’s place.
Bad went to worse on 14 minutes, with Keighley creating and using extra numbers wide on the left to good effect, Simon Bissell crashing over with Danny Jones converting.
The Roughyeds recovered to put pressure on an unyielding Cougars line, but too much ball went to ground as Benson’s side failed to find fluency – not helped by the windy conditions.
On the half-hour, Keighley extended their lead on the back of a 40-20 kick downfield. As Sam Gardner tried to go over in the right corner he was confronted by a wall of Oldham players, but a step inside presented him with an all-too clear run to the line.
An Oldham reply before half-time was crucial and though Dave Allen was denied by a superb last-ditch Ollie Pursglove tackle, Thomas Coyle weaved his way over to give the visitors a foothold in the game.
Daley Williams scored only two minutes after the break, exploiting a massive gap which suddenly opened up in Oldham’s right-side defence, Jones converting.
Thomas Coyle then produced a burst of pace to run in under the posts, Ballard converting.
But the Cougars restored the 12-point advantage six minutes later when a Scott Law pass found Carl Hughes – albeit in a move which appeared to contain a knock-on.
James Coyle claimed a quick double, diving over twice from close range, and two Ballard goals brought the visitors level at 26-26.
At this point the game was anyone’s.
However, a debatable penalty for not standing square at the play-the-ball gave Jones the chance to edge his side in front eight minutes from the end.
Thomas Coyle was then put on report after flattening kicker Jon Presley – who went on to have the last laugh by scoring a try which ended the hopes of an Oldham side which, for all its undoubted effort, couldn’t match the home team’s efficiency with ball in hand.
