Dons fly by easy-beats Oldham

Photo: PICTURE: CHRIS SUNDERLAND

Paul Noone takes the ball up on another poor afternoon.

Oldham 22, Doncaster 46
MILES Greenwood's hat-trick couldn't veil Oldham’s problems in their 10th defeat in 16 third-tier league games.

Tackling was awful - so much so that Doncaster’s big men didn’t need to run round defenders - they just gathered speed and went through them.

Roughyeds conceded eight tries to add to the eight they let in at Barrow the week before. Oldham are easy-beats right now and find themselves third off the bottom in a position commensurate with their performances.

With the ball they were no better. Passing was laboured, ball receivers often having to check their stride and take a pass around their shoulders, losing split-seconds inthe process.

Had it not been for Greenwood’s uncanny ability to read Neil Roden, or Roden’s knack of finding Greenwood, Roughyeds would have struggled to put any points on the board.

The visitors were already three tries to the good when Greenwood scored his first.

They were five tries up, leading 28-6, when the Oldham full-back joined the line to attack off Roden’s left shoulder and to take a couple of defenders over the line with him.

The telepathy twixt full-back and stand-off was at its best just after half-time when Roden ran left and kicked the ball back to the Doncaster posts with the outside of his right boot to find a gleeful Greenwood racing through to collect and complete his hat-trick.

The only other Oldham try followed two minutes from the end when David Cookson stormed up the middle on a powerful solo surge to put John Clough under the posts.

Doncaster showed little sympathy. Fawcett laid on three tries in the first half for Spurr, Mike Kelly and Dean Colton and then scored twice himself in the second half during an outstanding man-of-the-match performance.

Full-back Waterman also scored twice.

Miller’s men were 16-0 up in 12 minutes, and Miller’s men threatened to run away with it. Oldham couldn’t cope with Doncaster’s strong attacking style.

Those three Greenwood tries kept Roughyeds in touch at 16-28 before Fawcett took matters into his own hands by twice slipping through Oldham’s suspect defensive line to score two tries in 10 minutes.

Doncaster scored their eighth and final try 10 minutes from the end




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