Shaw shines as teenagers start in style

NOT THIS TIME . . . Chris Jarvis puts a foot into touch as he tries to cross in the corner.

OLDHAM unearthed some likely-looking lads in their inaugural Extended Scholarship game for under-18s against Workington Town at Whitebank on Saturday.

The Roughyeds teenagers, backed by the club's official Scholarship sponsors Tensile-Superlamp of Swinton, lit up a grey day with a 40-0 win in which stand-off Tom Shaw scored two tries and landed six goals from seven shots for a personal points haul of 20.

Depleted by youth representative calls, the Cumbrians lost hooker Nathan Kirkbride and second-rower Jordan Tinkler with first-half injuries, but that should not devalue Oldham's seven-try performance as the Roughyeds reached another milestone in the club's long-term development.

Centre Tom Breheny had the distinction of scoring the new side's first-ever try in the 18th minute before Shaw went in for the first of his brace of touchdowns just before half-time, giving the home side a 10-0 interval lead.

As Workington tired in the second half, coach Phil Costin's cubs added five more tries by Shaw, Jack Breheny, Craig Lawton and two by winger Curtis Strong, including a superb length-of-the-field effort in the last minute.

The 17-year-old from Ashton-under-Lyne, who has been training regularly with the reserves, collected a restart kick near the Oldham line, blitzed a weary defence up the middle and then raced away stylishly from just inside Oldham's half to put the finishing touches to a job well done.

"Expectation was high and we had a lot of first-day nerves," said Costin.

“But we were delighted to hit the ground running. There's room for improvement, but this was the first time these lads have played together and to score 40 points in those circumstances was pretty good.

“They were just glad to get the first game out of the way."

Although they scored only two tries while attacking up the hill in the first half, Roughyeds had several good chances.

Strong-running second-rower Jack Breheny twice went close, left-wing Chris Jarvis put a foot in touch as he crossed in the corner, and on the other wing Nathan Bevan sent in his brother Conal, only for the final pass to be judged forward.

Nathan, the scrum-half, then had another good opportunity to score when he charged down a clearing kick, but in his haste to pick up the loose ball at speed he momentarily lost his composure and knocked-on.