Costin salutes Oldham starlets

COACH Phil Costin praised the pluck and mental toughness of his Oldham RL under-18s side after they twice came from behind to earn an 18-18 draw in a tough, physical clash at Hunslet last night.

Having beaten Workington 40-0 in their first-ever game at Whitebank, Costin’s cubs take an unbeaten record into their next challenge at Keighley Cougars on Monday, August 1 (8pm kick off).

“In some ways it was a frustrating evening for us, and I’ve certainly got a few more grey hairs,” said Costin.

“But we were down to one substitute in the last 25 minutes and I can’t speak too highly about how the boys battled on.

“When we went 16-12 up midway through the second half we should have closed the game down, but it was a learning curve for us and it’s as well to remember that this was only our second game together.”

A last-minute penalty goal by Craig Lawton earned Oldham the draw.

Loose-forward Lawton, a Widnes boy, took over the goalkicking duties when regular marksman Tom Shaw went off injured and his three goals from three attempts, including a fabulous conversion from the right-hand touchline, were key elements of Oldham's performance.

Roughyeds were penalised 14 times to Hunslet's five — a statistic which gave the Hawks a big advantage in terms of possession and field position — but Costin's boys scored tries by centres Nick Ryan and Chris Jarvis, while adding a third in the second half by winger Conal Bevan.

Prop Jordan Morris, loose-forward Lawton, half-back Brett Greenwood and sub forward Josh Hulme impressed for Oldham, who were handicapped by injuries to stand-off Shaw, scrum-half Nathan Bevan and prop Ben Breheny.

Shaw pulled a muscle in his side during the pre-match warm-up. He began the game, but he had to leave the field midway through the first half, reappearing only briefly in a hard-fought second half.


ROUGHYEDS are offering sponsors’ lounge facilities at £25 a head, including pre-match buffet, entry to the game and use of a pay-bar when title-chasing Keighley Cougars are at Whitebank on Sunday, July 24 (3pm kick off). Ring (0161) 628 3677 for more details.