Higginshaw gain ground

OLDHAM St Anne’s man Jordan White (with ball) looks for support against Thatto Heath.

A CRUCIAL 34-4 victory over relegation rivals Bolton Mets helped Higginshaw open up a three-point cushion at the bottom of division four.

It was an outstanding performance on both sides of the ball, led superbly by new signing Michael Cadd who scored a try and set up two others. Man-of-the-match David Sweeney and hooker Ryan O'Donnell were also instrumental.

Sweeney’s early penalty was answered by a Bolton try before Chris Tomlin produced a stunning show-and-go to race in from 20 yards, Sweeney adding the extras.

Carl Fields was next in after good work from Cadd, Sweeney’s goal putting Higginshaw 14-4 up on 27 minutes.

With the Higgy forwards well on top, Cadd went over off a peach of a pass from Sweeney for an 18-4 half-time lead.

Sean Stubbs went over shortly after the restart, Sweeney’s kick over the defence created a try for Mark Ward under the posts. Sweeney added to it with a conversion before creating another for Scott Hewson, which he again embellished with a further two points.

In division one, Oldham St Anne’s ‘A’ lost 44-12 at Albert Park and Saddleworth Rangers ‘A’ beat Hindpool 36-6 at home in division three.

Bamber Bridge were handed an 18-0 walk-over scoreline against Waterhead ‘A’ in division four, as were Rochdale Cobras in division six.


Luck deserts St Anne’s as title bid falters

UNLUCKY Oldham St Anne’s under-18s have missed out on securing the North-West Counties League division one title.

Up against championship rivals Thatto Heath, Saints fell to a 17-0 home reverse which ensures the visitors from St Helens can celebrate finishing top of the pile.

Right from the start, things didn’t go the way of the home team.

Five minutes before kick-off Callum Casey — an integral part of the team — twisted an ankle in the warm-up, resulting in a reshuffle.

After going over for a disallowed try in the first 10 minutes, Saints were putting the pressure on but suffered another big blow in losing captain and main go-forward player Ben Marsden.

Going in at half-time 7-0 down, St Anne’s were still in the contest in the second half with Michael Arrowsmith, Mushadik Khan and Sean Hamilton going well in the forwards and Jordan White standing out in the backs.

But in the end, it wasn’t to be Saints’ day and the team now has the task of lifting itself for a BARLA National Cup semi-final in two weeks’ time.


IN THE Gillette National Youth League, Saddleworth Rangers revived their play-off charge with a 19-12 win away at Ince Rose Bridge under the lights on Friday night.

The result leaves Rangers in seventh, a place and two points adrift of a play-off position, with a big game coming up on Sunday at home to Celtic Crusaders Colts.



’Wood hit by rivals

A LACK of player numbers contributed to Hollinwood’s downfall once again, as the division four side lost 42-2 at relegation rivals Drighlington.

Travelling with just 14 players for the fixture, the absentees are doing little for confidence and the scoreline could easily have been far more emphatic but for a number of dropped balls near the line.

Working hard as usual for Hollinwood were Ian Hunt, Paul Brooks, Ray Parry and Mick Richmond, with Pete Jackson picking up the man-of-the-match award.

Rob Penswick and Mick Chiveral, in his first game of the season, also showed up well in a game in which the visitors’ only points came through a penalty goal from Brooks.