Suicide squad’s cup of despair

TEAMWORK . . . Oldham’s Ben Heaton, Craig Robinson and Jason Boults combine to halt Hunslet’s progress.

1 More Image(s) In Gallery

Second-half fightback in vain as Roughyeds finish with 11 men

OLDHAM lost the plot and exited this year’s Carnegie Challenge Cup at the fourth round stage after a fiery, bad-tempered clash.

Hunslet saw off a strong second-half comeback by Tony Benson’s men – but only after Ben Heaton’s second yellow card of the game and a red for Mick Fogerty, the first incident arriving with the game poised for an exciting finale at 18-12 in the home team’s favour.

The implosion by the visitors at the South Leeds Stadium led to player-coach Paul March’s men running in a further four tries in the final seven minutes against a side reduced to 11 men, giving the scoreline a lop-sided feel.

The first period was one-way traffic as a succession of penalties against the Roughyeds, plus some poor ball control from Benson’s side, led to the Hawks enjoying most of the possession and good field position.

Three tries up at the break, they appeared to be in control before tries from Mark Brocklehurst and Paul O’Connor – the second of which was a super effort from the full-back, picking the ball up off his toes at pace – plus two Matty Ashe goals gave Oldham hope at 18-12 down.

Then came Heaton’s second spell in the sin-bin for charging into David March as he missed with his drop-goal attempt 11 minutes from time.

A second penalty goal of the half from Wayne McHugh followed and when Fogerty was sent from the field for an off-the-ball incident by referee Craig Halloran, there was no way back for Oldham.

A slew of soft early penalties had put the Roughyeds under the cosh in the early stages.

The fifth for the Hawks came as early as the 14th minute for a high tackle and on the back of that, David March burrowed his way over the line for the opening try.

The visitors were unable to exert much pressure and another daft penalty – Ashe ripping the ball from the canny David March’s grasp right in front of Halloran – led to the home side’s second try.

Second-row forward Steve Dooler came up with a powerful drive which landed him a foot short of the line, but Michael Mark was there to score from dummy-half, Richard Knight converting for a 10-0 lead.

Replacement hooker Danny Whitmore got as close as anyone on the Roughyeds side when he drove to within inches of the line on the half-hour, but the attack again fizzled out when Jamie I’Anson lost control – a sixth knock-on of the opening period.

And in a fiery and physical half, Heaton succumbed to frustration when holding down David March, who reacted in typically forthright manner, both men getting 10 minutes to cool off.

Neil Lowe brought the half to a close by powerfully driving home a minute before the break, the try again coming down the profitable left side, with Knight kicking the conversion for a 16-0 advantage.

Brocklehurst’s score seven minutes into the second period gave Oldham hope. Wayne Kerr provided the momentum with a drive down the centre and Neil Roden’s kick ended up bouncing over Waine Pryce and into the arms of Oldham’s left winger.

Ashe converted, but McHugh was soon kicking a goal at the other end after Fogerty was deemed offside when flying off his own line to intercept.

Lucas Onyango set the next score in motion with a smart charge through the centre before O’Connor’s dazzling skill saw him cross underneath the posts off Neil Roden's clever dabbed kick through the line, Ashe again adding the extras.

Tommy Haughey was held up and Pryce was just pushed into the corner flag as the home side hit back, before Heaton’s second indiscretion led to McHugh notching another two points for a 20-12 lead entering the final 10 minutes.

Then came Fogerty’s alleged kicking incident for which he saw red, and the Hawks used the extra space afforded to them to seal the tie with tries from Mark, Richard Chapman, McHugh and Knight.