Rough and the smooth

Photo: Pictures by CHRIS SUNDERLAND

HARD YARDS . . . Oldham’s Phil Joseph shows grit and determination.

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SWINTON 26, OLDHAM 44 
FROM the ridiculous to the sublime.

That was Oldham’s performance in a nutshell at Sedgley Park. Shoddy ball control, decision-making that defied belief at times and lapses in concentration were ultimately outweighed by slick, fast and clinical rugby league which featured some truly outstanding team tries.

To pick up another three vital Co-operative Championship One points, Oldham were forced to recover from being 14-0 and 20-10 down to turn the tables and win.

It wasn’t just the weight of score that was against Tony Benson’s side, either – it was the fact that the basics of the game looked beyond them in the opening quarter.

In retrospect, the good number of Roughyeds fans who travelled to the match should have been issued with blindfolds on the way in to the Whitefield ground, to pull over their eyes for the worst moments in a horrendous start to the game.

Pass after pass after pass went to ground, penalties piggy-backed Swinton down the field just when they needed a helping hand and with as canny an operator as Graham Holroyd pulling the strings, Paul Kidd’s men weren’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

With only 16 minutes on the clock, the Lions were 14-0 up thanks to tries from Carl Sneyd – a great leap to take Holroyd’s high ball in the left corner – and two from scrum-half Gary Hulse, as the Roughyeds regularly spilled from fierce passes and kick returns.

Hulse’s first was created by a Holroyd grubber after successive penalties for offside had given Swinton good field position, with the second coming on the back of an excellent offload from the terrific Danny Heaton.

It was pretty painful, not least for the Roughyeds coaching duo of Benson and assistant Mark Cass who ruefully shook their heads at what they were witnessing.

Thank goodness, then, for the rampaging Dave Allen. The former Wigan and Widnes second row star systematically ripped holes in the Lions defence almost every time he had the ball and after crashing over from short range for Oldham’s opener on 19 minutes, it was his wonderful offload, setting away Thomas Coyle who then handed on to hat-trick hero Andy Ballard, which really kick-started the Roughyeds into life just three minutes later.

Allen and Thomas Coyle were then put on report for flipping Richie Hawkyard through a full circle when he had the ball and, from the resulting penalty, Sneyd increased the Lions’ lead to 16-10.

Swinton continued to exude confidence and a well-worked try arrived two minutes before the half-hour. A loose ball was gobbled up by Neil Rigby and Swinton advanced downfield to score through Wayne English.

Neil Roden emerged from the bench and started to show some of his old magic.

He sprung the defensive line before perfectly executing a kick to the corner which Marcus St Hilaire profited from, then his shimmy and pass carved open a hole which Allen exploited two minutes before half-time.

A pair of conversions for Ballard – who finished the game with another bumper haul of 24 points – gave Oldham the lead for the first time at 22-20.

Thomas Coyle hobbled off the field three minutes into the second half but the absence of the scrum-half didn’t affect the visitors too badly as they began to assert full control over proceedings.

Allen, who was involved in six of Oldham’s eight tries, produced another offload which enabled James Coyle to set in Phil Joseph under the posts.

The remaining Coyle on the field then created another on 67 minutes, launching a booming kick downfield. With no full-back in situ, Ballard won the race for his second try.

Sharp play at the ruck from Allen set in Ballard for his treble, as the home side continued to fade away.

There was still time for some confusing late action, Paul O’Connor sin-binned for holding down the breaking Darren Bamford for a second too long before the same Lions man seemed to throw a pass off the ground which resulted in a disallowed try.

After consultation with his touch judge, though, referee Ronnie Laughton mystifyingly gave a scrum with a Lions put-in and Bamford subsequently had his reward.

Sneyd’s conversion put Swinton in bonus-point territory but that consolation was denied them when the again-impressive St Hilaire crossed from a Tommy Goulden pass in the last minute.




That’s more like it, admits Benson



TONY Benson wants Oldham to emulate their second half performance at Sedgley Park in the the season’s remaining games.



The Roughyeds coach felt his side were too excitable in a poor opening period in which the ball was regularly coughed up, gifting Swinton possession and territory time after time.

After emerging from their nightmare start to scramble a 22-20 interval lead, though, the visitors went on to up their game, producing a powerful and tough performance which took three points while denying the Lions a bonus.

“In the first half we got caught up in the atmosphere, wide field and the good conditions and made some ridiculous mistakes,” admitted Benson.

“We were throwing silly passes, trying to score off every play. It is something that we are working very hard on, but making slow progress.

“We basically helped Swinton to score tries and if we didn’t make mistakes, we gave away penalties. We were really poor.

“I was really disappointed with the first half and it wasn’t just me - the team were very disappointed as well.

“To be ahead by two points at half-time was probably lucky.

“But in the second half there was no question. We dominated and did what we should have done in the first half.

“I’d like to play how we did in the second half in every game from now on and if we do that we will be hard to touch.

“We have to get our heads around doing that and have to be mature about how we play.”

Even though Oldham began the game badly, when the attack clicked it resulted in some spectacular tries, none more so than the first of Andy Ballard’s hat-trick on 22 minutes – a move which began well inside the visitors’ territory with a superb Dave Allen offload to the breaking Thomas Coyle.

For Benson, it is a case of his side knowing where and when to use their natural flair.

“If you close it up too much you don’t score any tries, so it is a fine blend,” he added.

“I think we are getting closer to it and the second half was much more of what we are after.

“Defensively we were pretty good in the second half, too, and played much better territorially.

“We played down at their end and when we had the chance we really gave it to them as far as our attack goes.”