Oldham victory marred by injury

PLENTY TO SMILE ABOUT: Lewis Palfrey gets a pat on the back of the head after scoring a try in Oldham’s win at London Skolars.

Oldham’s leading try scorer Jon Ford is likely to miss the rest of the season after dislocating his left elbow in the win at London Skolars.

The 19 year old was left in agony after making a strong tackle under heavy pressure in the last few minutes of the game.

Roughyeds physio Rachel Johnson and the home club’s duty doctor attended to him at the side of the pitch before he was taken to hospital. Club officials were told the severity of the dislocation would probably mean his season was over.

St Helens-born Ford has played most of the season for Oldham, either on dual registration or loan, and his 15 tries have included three hat-tricks.

The loss of such a prolific try scorer will be seen as a setback to a club aiming for promotion - though the blow will be eased by the return to training this week of David Cookson.

So too will be versatile new signing Tom Whitehead, who had an impressive debut against North Wales Crusaders but wasn’t in the 17 at London Skolars yesterday.

Roughyeds’ 44-24 win maintains their five-point lead at the top of Championship One - and keeps up the pressure on second-placed North Wales, who have two games in hand.