Oldham ‘A’ get off to to flyer

OLDHAM RU A team romped to a 52-10 win at Altrincham Kersal, thanks largely to a blistering opening quarter.

On paper, the teams seemed well matched with three wins apiece beforehand. However, things started to go wrong for the home side straight from the kick-off, which failed to travel the required ten metres.

Oldham nearly scored with a good move from the resulting scrum but didn’t have to wait long to open their account when Michael Collinge slotted over a penalty.

A fine break from his own half by Chris Heap set up Rob Froggett for the opening try, goaled by Collinge, and Oldham crossed again when Heap rounded off a weaving run from halfway with a touchdown which Collinge again improved to make it 17-0.

It should have been more as, in the next ten minutes, Oldham were brought back four times for forward passes when it seemed easier to score.

The sides traded penalties either side of the half-hour mark, before Oldham touched down again, Alan Pierre picking up and driving over from the back of a rolling maul to make it 25-3 at half time.

Any thought Altrincham may have harboured about a comeback were extinguished soon after the restart when Collinge took a quick tap penalty and the ball was quickly worked out wide to Rob Froggett who darted over for the try.

Will Mellor made another searing break from inside his own half before supplying a pass to the supporting Chris McKenzie to race 30 metres to score wide out on the left and Collinge added a superb conversion.

Collinge himself grabbed the next try when he charged down an attempted clearance and, five minutes later, Mellor turned up on the end of a good passing movement to score wide out on the right.

With ten minutes left, Froggett made a good break down the left and kicked ahead for Jake Watson to collect and race away to the line after shrugging off two attempted tackles.

Spirited Altrincham got a consolation try and conversion in the last minute.

Injury-ravaged Extra A suffered a 36-7 home defeat to table-topping De La Salle.

The outstanding Jason Green twice held up rivals over the line as De La Salle pressed hard and were finally rewarded with a touchdown at the third attempt.

Green also made a try- saving tackle before Oldham had to make a reshuffle due to injuries and De la Salle caught them on the hop with two further tries to take a 17–0 interval lead.

Oldham hit back well after the restart and Green forced his way over for a try which Danny Simpson converted.

However, the speedy De La Salle backs began to get on top and run in late tries as Oldham’s hard-tackling efforts took their toll.