Roden’s drop of gold

Photo: PICTURES: CHRIS SUNDERLAND.

Dallimore dissects the Skolars line to score Oldham’s second try of the afternoon.

Oldham 25, London Skolars 24
A WIN at last ! Oldham’s longest losing run in rugby league’s third tier came to an end at Whitebank when Jamie Dallimore and Neil Roden kicked Roughyeds to victory in a thriller against London Skolars.

Both half-backs put the boot in, scrum-half Dallimore converting each of his side's four tries — two of them off the touchline — and stand-off Roden, the captain, finishing the job in style with a match-winning drop goal in the last minute.

It finished 25-24 after Oldham, trailing by six points with only three minutes left, threw themselves a lifeline with Miles Greenwood’s second try.

Roughyeds then trailed 22-24 and up stepped Dallimore to thump home a pressure kick from way out to the left of the uprights and in spite of a tricky wind which restricted his Skolars counterpart Dylan Skee to two goals from five shots.

It set the scene for a frantic last two minutes in which Dallimore was well wide with a huge, wind-assisted drop-goal attempt from out of the Oldham half before Roden struck the angled, match-winning one-pointer from 30 metres out with the clock ticking down to the final hooter.

It gave Tony Benson’s men their first win in 10 Championship One outings and ended the club’s longest losing sequence since 2006.

The lead changed hands four times in an intriguing second half, but two late tries in three minutes by Bryan and Thomas, each put through big holes by their half-backs, looked like being decisive.

But Oldham weren’t to be denied,.

They rallied bravely on the back of telling breaks by Foxen and Dallimore and were duly rewarded with seven match-winning points in the dying minutes.






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