Spot of bother

Photo: Vincent Brown

CENTRE OF ATTENTION . . . Alex Thompson celebrates his try - but things stopped going so well for him.

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Rochdale 18, Oldham 10
Tempers flare as Oldham lose perfect record
THE first Hornets-Oldham derby of 2012 will be remembered more for its fisticuffs than its football.

It was nasty, naughty, and not at all nice.

Alex Thompson was sin-binned, John Clough was put on report, there was a full-scale brawl and rival players pushed, jostled and eye-balled each other as they moved towards the tunnel at the end of the game.

The RFL match review panel will have lots to look at this week, notably the bust-up which ended with a flabbergasted Thompson getting the yellow card and the incident after the final hooter for which Clough was reported.

Not for the first time in a bruising battle, Thompson was the victim of a high shot in a three-man tackle.

Punches were flung, players of both sides piled in and when it finally calmed down, referee Gareth Hewer and his touchjudges went into a huddle before Oldham were awarded a penalty and a distraught and utterly bemused Thompson was sent to the cooler.

The official explanation from the match officials was that Oldham got the penalty for the high tackle, and Thompson was sin-binned for retaliating with the punch which ignited the blue touch paper.

Hornets led 16-10 at the time and they made the most of their numerical advantage to stretch their lead to 18-10 with a Chris Hough penalty while Thompson was off the field.

More trouble was threatened at the end.

A game isn’t over until the next stoppage after the hooter has sounded. Hornets had possession and Adam Bowman was running the ball out to the touchline when Clough appeared to push him and he ended up against a perimeter hoarding.

Tempers then reached boiling point again as this clash of derby rivals ended acrimoniously.

Scoring four tries to two and completely dominating the second half, Hornets finished worthy winners as Oldham were beaten for the first time in Championship One after three wins in a row.

The full version of this story can be read in our print and eChron editions