Oldham turn up the heat

Ben Heaton is swamped by his team-mates after scoring Oldham's third try.

Oldham 40, Whitehaven 20 

NOW you’ve got to believe it, Oldham ARE on the way back.

Whitehaven came to Whitebank boasting the longest unbeaten run in the pro game — eight matches — and left deflated and demoralised, having suffered a major setback in their quest for a top-two finish.

Roughyeds not only out-scored them seven tries to four, but finished proud and worthy winners despite losing prop Dave Ellison with a sickening elbow dislocation midway through the first half.

It was evident that Ellison was in distress when Whitehaven players close to the stricken Oldham man took one look at the injury and, acting instinctively on behalf of a fellow pro, immediately started to wave frantically to the dug-outs on the other side of the pitch.

Play was held up for nearly quarter of an hour while the two club physios and the Oldham club doctor stabilised the injury, administered a painkilling injection and carried off the prop on a stretcher to wait for an ambulance.

Within a couple of minutes of play resuming the Cumbrians scored their second try by centre Scott McAvoy to take an 8-4 lead with slope and breeze in their favour and Roughyeds down to only three props against one of the biggest and meanest packs in the division.

What happened next was unqualified proof that Tony Benson’s men, as they claimed pre-match, had put their mid- season anxieties and self-doubt behind them and were ready to go full tilt at a determined dash for play-off honours on the final furlong.

Showing remarkable mental strength and fortitude they found another level to rattle up 28 unanswered points in a blistering 25-minute spell that produced tries for Shaun Robinson, Ben Heaton, Matthew Fogarty, John Clough and Luke Stenchion.

Whitehaven didn’t know what had hit them. Their defence had been systematically dismantled, and they were powerless to know why. You could almost see the anguish and utter confusion on the faces of Craig Calvert, Spencer Miller, Paul Culnean and McAvoy as they looked to each other for answers following Heaton’s first try in the run-up to half-time.

Two-try Heaton had a belting game, but he wasn’t on his own. Teenage centre Fogarty goes from strength to strength, as does another lively three-quarter who was plucked from the local amateur game, Robinson.

Heaton and Robinson worked wonders in clearing their lines when under pressure, while Neil Roden and Carl Forber, at half-back, were creative enough to constantly keep the visitors guessing.

This was Roden’s best game for several weeks. He was targeted early on, but he rode the storm and was going just as strongly at the end as he had been at the beginning, as witnessed by the way he cleverly set up Heaton’s second try with only five minutes left.

The forwards also faced a huge challenge, particularly after Ellison’s departure, but they did a magnificent job to keep the likes of Matthew Haggerty, Howard Hill, Miller, Lee Doran, Andrew Beattie and Aussie prop Luke Isakka at bay.

Oldham’s defensive work, particularly in the second half when they had to survive several back-to-back sets, was exemplary and none did better in that regard on the edges than second-row pair Paul Noone and new boy Danny Bravo, on home debut.

Once Ellison had gone each of the remaining forwards pulled out something extra so full marks also go to Jason Boults, Martin Roden, Stenchion, Valu Bentley, Luke Sutton, Clough and young Callum Casey.

Casey’s ability to use the ball intelligently, allied to his football know-how, provides Roughyeds with an additional attacking weapon in the middle of the field.

We have grown accustomed to seeing Roden cross-kicking — as have opponents — but it was something else to see Casey doing it with such aplomb that Fogarty could time his run to perfection, leap like a salmon and score a try that brought the house down.

Fogarty’s quick hands set up the first try of the game for Mark Brocklehurst, but Whitehaven were soon level when Beattie crossed on Doran’s pass after a towering kick by Carl Rudd had caused havoc in the Oldham rearguard.

The Ellison incident followed; McAvoy gave the visitors the lead; then it was all Oldham as, to the delight of their fans, they raced into a 32-8 lead by the middle of the second half.

With 10 minutes to go they still led by the same margin, but in a frantic finish Whitehaven scored two late tries by centre Max Wiper on the back of short kicks by Rudd and sharp support play by Lewis Palfrey,

It was, however, too little too late for the visitors, who conceded again when Heaton crossed for his second try and when Forber landed a last-minute penalty.