Mighty McNally has the final say

Photo: Gareth Lowe

BATTERING RAM . . . Wayne Kerr’s determined run pushes Oldham upfield.

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Oldham 41, York 32

GREGG McNally’s right foot produced a real moment of magic to finish off gallant York’s chances.

The on-loan Huddersfield Giants scrum-half dinked a perfect kick over the last line of defence, re-gathered the ball on the full and swiftly sent in Valu Bentley for a try out of the blue with 10 minutes left on the clock.

After kicking the goal – taking his individual points haul to 17 – McNally put a hard-working Roughyeds side 35-22 up and within sight of the finishing line.

The visitors hit back to cause a few palpitations for Oldham coach Tony Benson.

Tries from Chris Thorman and Lee Waterman, the latter converting one of them, brought the gap down to a mere three points with a minute and a half remaining.

But a knock-on from substitute loose forward Matty Ashe’s restart cost York the chance of getting the ball back for one last assault.

And instead, Chris Clarke dived over from close range to hand Oldham a fourth successive stab at gaining promotion from the professional game’s third tier via a play-off final.

Defeats on previous occasions against Featherstone, Doncaster and Keighley may lead to some fans viewing the big day with some trepidation.

However – and this is possibly crucial – victory here means that it will be the first occasion in that sequence in which the side has only had to play one match in order to get there.

Two weeks of preparation now ensue for Benson and his men.

Whether it is York or Blackpool who end up forming the opposition in the final, confidence won’t be in short supply.

Of five games now played against those two sides in 2010, the Roughyeds have won four.

Claiming the spoils from this clash was a far from straightforward task.

On the small Whitebank surface on which they have already tasted victory this season, York gave every bit as good as they got.

Resilient down the centre, Dave Woods’ Knights had two real battering rams on the right side of their attack with which to hammer on the door of the Roughyeds’ defence.

Ryan Esders, formerly of Harlequins, burst over for two tries and centre Ian Bell, who played outside him, caused no end of problems with his combination of bulk and pace to grab one himself.

But along with right winger Dan Wilson, the trio were each responsible for a blunder at crucial moments.

Bell missed his kick when presented with open ground 30 metres out, Esders failed to pass with men outside him in a presentable position and Wilson bounced the ball when trying to touch it down in the corner.

All three of those moments arrived when the game was in the balance in its third quarter – and Lee Waterman’s missed penalty right in front of the posts didn’t help, either.

York came up just short despite holding an 18-16 lead as the sides changed ends.

Playing up the hill, a McNally penalty put the home side 2-0 up before Bell piled over after a sustained spell of pressure by the Knights, Waterman converting.

McNally kicked an almost identical penalty prior to John Gillam’s excellent basketball skills sending in Joe Chandler off Neil Roden’s high kick.

Referee Ronnie Laughton was whistle-happy in the first half and after heading downfield from a penalty, Esders crossed with Waterman kicking for a 12-10 lead.

Whitmore then pounced off Chandler’s offload, but in a period containing nine Knights penalties, another whistle gave the visitors field position from which Esders again forced his way home.

York made a great start to the second half despite playing up the hill.

Waterman crossed after Thorman’s high kick had caused confusion and their lead could have been extended but for the crucial bombed chances.

On the hour the tide turned. Wayne Kerr wrestled his way over, McNally added a confident drop-goal and next came the youngster’s moment of game-changing brilliance.



Benson hails players’ attitude

ROUGHYEDS coach Tony Benson paid tribute to his side’s mental strength after they dug out a victory which takes the club to a fourth successive play-off final.

Despite being well up against it at various points in a nip-and-tuck clash at the Whitebank Stadium, Benson’s men never found themselves more than one score behind in this Co-operative Championship One qualifying play-off tie.

In the end, man-of-the-match Gregg McNally’s eight successful kicks and solitary drop goal proved to be the difference.

Oldham have now nailed down a final appearance at Warrington’s Halliwell Jones Stadium in two weeks’ time, where they will face either York or Blackpool for the right to go up into the Co-operative Championship.

“It was a very tight game,” said a delighted Benson, who is now set personally for a second finals day in succession.

“From two weeks ago, we have come from playing against Skolars in a fairly relaxed manner, to taking on a quality side like York in finals football.

“They are very big and physical and had a very good game plan to use the strengths they had. It nearly paid off for them.

“It was a tough battle. At half-time, I was happy to turn around two points down.

“I felt that if we did that, we had the hill and if we then ground out the next 15 minutes then it would start to turn in our favour.

“As rugby league never goes the way you expect it to, they had all the ball in the next 10 minutes.

“We never got near it – but the great thing is, we hung in there. We came through it and then it started to turn. You couldn’t get better training than that for the Halliwell Jones.”

York were well-tuned and in centre Ian Bell – in his first game back since being released from prison – and former Harlequins second row Ryan Esders had two of the game’s outstanding performers.

At least three huge opportunities to score tries went begging for the Knights when they were looking to pull away up the hill in the second half.

For Benson, that was as much down to good efforts by his men as it was sloppy play from the visitors.

“The tries they didn’t score were through good defence and scramble and enthusiasm to do well,” the Roughyeds coach added.

“When you look at it, we had a team out there with nine players who played in last year’s play-off final.

“It isn’t a bad effort by all of them to come through to where we are now. They have done really well.

“And they look like a team that will be very hard to beat. In their own minds, they are there to win each game and they will win each game.”