Resilient Oldham get the job done

Photo: Max Flego

CONGRATULATIONS . . . Ben Heaton (right) celebrates with try scorer Gregg McNally.

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London Skolars 18, Oldham 48

AT face value, this scoreline is not too far out from what some will have expected the Roughyeds to achieve in the capital.

The home team had managed only two wins all season, with only Gateshead below them in the Co-operative Championship One table; Oldham, on the other hand, had won every single match on their travels.

Nothing to see here, then? Far from it.

Tony Benson wasn’t naïve enough to be drawn into treating Skolars lightly.

And the fire with which the home team played very nearly knocked the visitors completely off their stride at the New River Stadium in North London.

It looked plain sailing after only a quarter of an hour. A powerful close-range try from Valu Bentley, a neat show-and-go effort by Paul O’Connor, the first of John Gillam’s double, claimed off Matty Ashe’s grubber, plus two Ashe goals and one from Gregg McNally — confidently dispatched from the right touchline — capped a dominant opening.

But the home side dragged themselves up off the floor.

First Austen Aggrey — who once spent a period on trial with the Roughyeds — capitalised after a rare error from O’Connor in letting the ball bounce from a kick resulted in forward momentum for the home team.

Paul Thorman converted and coach James Massara was nearly celebrating again five minutes later in his final game in charge, only for his team to spill the ball over the try line.

A scrum was thus awarded to the Roughyeds — only for backchat to referee Tim Roby led to him awarding the home side a penalty which they chose to run, Neil Thorman picking a good line to race home.

All hell was then let loose in the in-goal and both teams paid the price for a large scuffle, with O’Connor and Skolars forward Oliver Bloom spending 10 minutes in the sin-bin to cool down.

Paul Thorman converted again and it was game on, with Oldham’s lead cut to 18-12 on the half-hour.

Ben Heaton’s top-class try with his first touch after coming off the bench, racing through the line to score wide on the right, restored superiority. Ashe converted well before Marcus St Hilaire hobbled off, landing awkwardly as he helped set up a flowing attack.

By half-time, Oldham should have settled down.

Instead, Skolars continued to take the game to the visitors. Mick Fogerty had been helped off the pitch with a sore knee by the time Olly Purslow waltzed in off a short pass close to the posts, Paul Thorman again reducing the arrears to one score at 24-18 in the Roughyeds’ favour.

And as Oldham rocked, Mark Brocklehurst was forced into an last-ditch saving tackle on Neil Thorman, after a certain try looked on the cards when Jy-Mel Coleman broke forward and passed to the full-back on his inside.

On such moments matches are won and lost.

And Brocklehurst’s heroics seemed to inspire the visitors, who settled down to play some frill-free but effective rugby.

First Danny Whitmore sent over Chris Clarke for a walk-in effort close in to the line just before the hour mark, McNally slotting over the goal.

Gillam then claimed an Ashe bomb, McNally raced home after claiming an interception on his own 40-metre line, and the same player ran in after a pass was flicked out in the tackle after a frustrated Coleman had been sent to the sin-bin for dissent.

Ashe struck three more conversions as the Roughyeds rounded off a tricky fixture — physically and mentally — on a high note.




Benson: Skolars were a tough nut to crack

ROUGHYEDS coach Tony Benson admitted the ghost of the night when his side appeared unpretty in pink was at the forefront of his mind in the capital.

London Skolars visited Boundary Park a year ago in a televised clash and very nearly claimed an unlikely victory before eventually being seen off 28-22 by the home side, who wore the brightly-coloured shirts in aid of charity.

At the New River Stadium, the Skolars — heavy underdogs, cheered on by many neutrals in the crowd of 1,375 — gave Oldham another fright.

Only a try-saving tackle by substitute Mark Brocklehurst on Neil Thorman prevented Skolars from what would almost certainly have been a converted try to level the game at 18-18 early in the second half.

Eventually, thanks in no small part by a pair of tries each for John Gillam and Gregg McNally, the visitors pulled away to complete the remarkable record-breaking achievement of staying unbeaten away from home in Co-operative Championship One for a full season.

“They had a lot to play for and we still remember Boundary Park under lights when they ran us close — and I think they are a better team now than they were back then,” said Benson of the club he formerly coached.

“It was a tough game to play and we spent half-time talking to the players about what was going on towards the end of the half.

“It got a bit rough and we rose to it and got off our game, which is what they were trying to achieve.

“Once we got back into it we were fine. Coming up to half-time there was the situation where there were gaps everywhere and some players got excited, lost their heads and went for every hole that appeared rather than sticking to what we were doing.

“But we got back into it and played some pretty good patches.

“Our defence was pretty good through the game, because they attack quite well and have some big strong boys there.

“We slipped a little off at times but got the result we deserved.”

Benson explained that injuries to centres Mick Fogerty and Marcus St Hilaire disrupted his set-up.

The latter player is the biggest worry, sustaining a shin injury with the home qualifying play-off against York now two weeks away.

“With Mick it was more of a precaution to take him off and Marcus looked to be the worst of the two.

“We are not sure what has happened there (to St Hilaire), but they were both off-the-ball incidents, which is very frustrating.

“Ben (Heaton) got a poke in the eye and Gilly (John Gillam) has a sore calf but they will be okay.”

Oldham’s coach also paid tribute to his side’s run of 10 unbeaten matches away from home, including superb victories over champions Hunslet and big-spending Blackpool.

“It is pretty big isn’t it, really?” he added. “Especially driving all the way down here on the day and then playing, it is quite difficult.

“Mentally we are ready for the games and we have been pretty consistent through the season.”