Rangers victory in national derby duel

TACKLED: Phil Jagger of Oldham St Anne’s (left, with ball) is taken down by Wath Brow in Saints’ 30-4 National Conference League division one defeat. Amateur rugby round-up

HUNDREDS of hardy souls braved a cold evening to watch Saddleworth Rangers and Waterhead Under-18s do battle in the National Youth League, with Rangers coming out on top 20-6.

This fierce local derby started at a cracking pace, at the expense of ball control, with the home team Saddleworth striking first through a Ethan Langhorn penalty from out wide.

A well-worked scrum move then put them further ahead, the overlap created which allowed Thomas Heywood to go over in the corner. Langhorn's conversion made it 8-0 to the hosts.

As Waterhead got back into the game, they swept upfield and scored through Tom McMullen, with Sean Garrett converting.

Indiscipline from Saddleworth almost cost them more further before half-time, but Waterhead failed to break through again.

The second half was another tense and error-strewn affair and there was no further scoring up until the final 10 minutes.

Good approach work from Langhorn and quick hands from man-of-the-match Anthony Morrison enabled James Greenwood to crash over from close range, Langhorn's goal making it 14-6 to Saddleworth.

The Rangers tails were now up and the game was sealed by Langhorn on virtually the last play, going over from acting half before adding a conversion.




IN THE North-West Counties Youth League division one, Oldham St Anne's recovered from a shaky start, going behind by two tries, to record a 30-12 win at Folly Lane.

Jordan White was man of the match for Saints, who put on a strong second-half performance.






Late comeback arrests Higgy charge for glory

North-West Counties League

HIGGINSHAW conceded a pair of tries and a penalty in the final 10 minutes to lose grasp of a game which looked set to provide a first win of the season.

Cadishead were matched for the majority of the game on their own patch, before eventually claiming a 30-16 victory in division four.

Strengthened thanks to new signings Keith Chadwick and front rower Daniel Richards, the latter breaking the line several times, Higginshaw went in front when Mark Ward snaffled an interception and ran in for a cracking length-of-field effort.

Cadishead hit back with a converted try on the quarter-hour to edge in front, before man-of-the-match David Hewson nipped over for a poacher's try after a good drive from Richards.

The home team were again ahead from a converted try following a defensive lapse which gave them a 12-8 lead at the break.

But the visitors flew out of the blocks in the second half, Gareth Brindley scoring and then converting his own try.

Cadishead went back in front with a 50th-minute try, Chris Tomlin levelling the scores with a penalty before Higginshaw's Sean Stubbs was held up.

But two late converted tries and a penalty ensured the points went to the Warrington side.



WATERHEAD were thrashed 62-4 at West Bank Bears on an afternoon when everything went right for the hosts.

From the kick-off, Waterhead marched 80 yards downfield in five tackles — only to see the ball intercepted for a try.

The next set of six followed a similar pattern, this time due to a poor pass, and the visitors were already 12-0 behind.

A couple of good efforts from the home side were followed by a series of blind passes that seemed to find a West Bank attacker every time.

Even so, with the heads of the Waterhead players dropping after the early setback the team was never in the game.

Hooker Chris Brown never stopped working and was voted as man of the match for the away side.




OLDHAM St Anne’s lost 28-22 at Shevington Sharks in division one, Saddleworth Rangers were beaten 23-12 at home by Leigh Miners in division three, while Rochdale Cobras won 38-26 at Folly Lane ‘A’ in division six.





Hollinwood’s winning run comes to an end

HOLLINWOOD were brought back down to earth with a bump after back-to-back wins, thrashed 62-22 at home by Wibsey Warriors in Pennine League division four.

The visitors, who proved to be the best side Hollinwood have faced so far this season, racked up 30 points in the first half without reply thanks in part to some poor tackling.

After the break, the home side started to play and managed to score some tries. Man of the match Alistair Williams picked up a hat-trick, John Byron got a try and three goals were kicked by Darren Cooper.

Williams, Copper and John Kenway were the best performers in what was overall a poor all-round team performance from Hollinwood.


LEE Forsythe of Oldham St Anne's and David Hewson of Higginshaw have jumped to the top of the Man of Steel standings with top-rated performances for their respective clubs at the weekend.

Both Forsythe — the full-back who was sent to the sin bin late on for Saints in a frustrating 30-4 home loss to Wath Brow — and Hewson, a Higginshaw try scorer in their 30-16 defeat at Cadishead, gained man of the match awards for a third time this season.

The local player with the most MOMs come the season's end will pick up the Man of Steel trophy and a cheque for £500.

In the Rugby Oldham Challenge, Waterhead jumped into second place thanks to their nail- biting 22-20 home win over Hill Isberg, while holders Saddleworth Rangers extended their lead at the top with a first-ever 20-4 win at Millom.


HIGGINSHAW are looking to start up an under-16s team under the guidance of Mark Jewitt and the club's director of youth coaching Paul Deakin.

Anyone interested should contact either Mark Jewitt on 07971 182260 or club secretary John Mellor on 07970 100606, or turn up to training at 10am on Saturday on Oldham Edge (at the top of Crompton Street).