Gillam hat-trick frightens Rams
Date published: 27 February 2012
Photo: PICTURES by CHRIS SUNDERLAND.
John Gillam celebrates scoring a try during Oldham’s dramatic comeback.
Oldham 28, Dewsbury 30
WINGER John Gillam gave an outstanding display on Oldham’s lethal left flank as Roughyeds ran Dewsbury Rams ragged in the last 20 minutes of a Northern Rail Cup thriller at Whitebank yesterday.
He finished with three tries, nearly had four and put the wind up Rams full-back Derrell Olpherts every time he chased teasing kicks from Neil Roden or Jamie Dallimore to the bottom corner of the ground.
Neither side will qualify for the sudden-death stage of the competition so the result — a 30-28 win for Dewsbury — was of academic interest only, although Oldham will be heartened by their fantastic fightback against a team from a higher division as they look ahead to the start of the league campaign at Workington in a fortnight.
They looked down and out when trailing 30-4 early in the second half, but they then turned the game on its head to rattle the Rams with four converted tries in 18 minutes — one by Roden, two from Gillam to complete his hat-trick and another by John Clough.
Dallimore, who had failed to improve Gillam’s first-half try, kicked beautifully in the later stages to steer home the four goals on offer from wide out on the left-hand touchline, and to leave his side two behind with four minutes left.
So much were Benson’s men in the ascendancy in the game’s final 20 minutes that they would surely have won given more time.
Once they got a roll on down the Whitebank slope they played with
confidence and self-belief, stemming from the sharpness in midfield of Danny Whitmore and Clough and the sheer power of prop Bruce Johnson and spreading to the creativity of halves Roden and Dallimore and the assured finishing of Gillam wide out.
While Gillam was top dog in the backs, Johnson was the leading light in a pack that couldn’t hold Dewsbury in the first half but got well on top later when Roughyeds were attacking down the slope.
Eight of the game’s 11 tries were scored at the bottom end of the ground — four by Dewsbury’s Ayden Faal, Ben Jones, Ed Barber and Dwayne Barker and then the four by Oldham between the 58th and 76th minutes.
Gillam scored Oldham’s only first-half try when he claimed Roden’s high cross-kick to drop over the line.
Dewsbury added to their 20-4 interval lead with a long-range solo try by Olpherts early in the second half, followed by their sixth and final try by Matty Nicholson.
After that it was all Oldham. Roden started the fightback with a try from close range and then linked superbly with Miles Greenwood to set up Gillam’s second.
The try of the match came next.
Clough, Roden, Alex Thompson, Chris Clarke and Michael Ward all ran and handled superbly before Gillam was sent clear by Ward to finish in the corner after a run from halfway.
As Oldham turned the screw the visitors had two narrow escapes before Gillam’s chase of a Roden kick again put the Rams in disarray as Clough came up on the inside to touch down.
