RU team suffer defeat at Wigton

OLDHAM RUFC returned empty handed from another trip to the Lake District following their 40-12 defeat at Wigton in North Lancs/Cumbria division.

As expected it was a forward-dominated match and Oldham's cause was not helped as they were without Chris Heptonstall and Rob Fryer, two influential pack men.

Heptonstall was ruled out by injury while Fryer was unable to travel. Scrum-half Matt Collins was also an absentee.

And it meant that 11 of Oldham's 18-man squad were under the age of 21 providing another exciting glimpse into the future for the Manor Park club.

The youngsters performed creditably and it was only two late tries, one of which was converted, which gave Wigton a flattering margin of victory.

In the first half there had been little to separate the teams as Wigton held a slender 14-7 advantage.

Wigton found themselves 14-0 ahead after 13 minutes through tries from Richard Moffatt and Chris Patterson, both of which were converted by Tom Gardner.

Oldham opened their account midway through the opening period through a try from Steve Molloy.

Matt Brogan won a lineout and the move involved Gareth Barber, Michael Ward and Barber again before Molloy crashed over the line and Mark Goodman added the goal.

Wigton sealed victory with two tries by David Thomson in the opening 10 minutes of the second period, both of which were converted by Gardner.

Oldham's second try followed a well-worked move as scrum-half Adam Langley made a blindside break from a scrum and kicked ahead for Barber to score.

Wigton scored two late tries from Moffatt and Patterson, one of which was converted, as the hosts pressed home their superiority in the second period.