Furness turn up the heat on Oldham

ROB FRYER takes on Furness in the first-team fixture at Manor Park.

RUGBY UNION:

TWO moments of ill discipline cost Oldham RU dearly as they slipped to a 14-3 home defeat to Furness in North Lancs/Cumbria division.

Defeat for Oldham, allied to wins for Aldwinians and Netherall, pushed the local side back into the third relegation spot.

But it could have been so different had Oldham not twice been reduced to 14 men by yellow-card offences.

Oldham were forced into a late change by the unavailability of Andy Gorey so Mark Goodman reverted to full-back and Rob Fryer came in at centre and did a fine job.

The Oldham pack played well, particularly in the driving mauls, with Chris McKenzie dominating the lineout and the front row of Paul Wardle, Jack Taylor and Chris Heptonstall doing well in the scrums. Second-row Nick Duncan also had his best game of the season.

Goodman kicked a 40-metre penalty to put Oldham ahead, but Joe Hesse was then sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle and, in injury time, Furness grabbed a try through winger Mathew Studt, converted by Darren Holt.

The second half was dominated by Oldham and they were camped close to the Furness line when Adam Waterhouse was sin-binned for stamping.

That relieved the pressure on the visitors and they increased their lead when they launched a high kick into Oldham territory. Three home players failed to gather, allowing centre Matt Noden to collect the loose ball and score a converted try.

With bottom-of-the-table Netherall next up, Oldham will look to take the positives from this performance - and cut out the indiscipline which hurt their chances.


Park put paid to run of success

OLDHAM 2nds lost 34-15 at Broughton Park 3rds, ending a run of five straight wins.

They were without their regular half-back pairing of Matty Collins and Scott Danby, but Jason Green and Rob Froggett were more than able replacements.

However, they were soon behind when Broughton used their pace in the backs to fashion a try between the posts, although the kick was missed. Park added another try after 20 minutes and Oldham suffered a double blow when they lost Rob Froggett with concussion and then conceded another converted touchdown to make it 17–0.

Up until then, Oldham had been starved of any ball but a scrum on the Park 22 resulted in Chris Heap receiving the ball and brushing off attempted tackles to score wide out on the left.

Owen Davies pulled off a magnificent try-saving tackle. However, slack defence then allowed Park a converted try before Oldham reduced the interval arrears to 24-10 when a quick tap penalty by Jason Green allowed Matt Jakeman to bulldoze has way over the line from 15 metres.

Park scored again from a scrum early in the second half before Oldham responded with a period of sustained pressure, broken only when the home side grabbed another try against the run of play.

Undaunted, Oldham continued to make the running and were rewarded late on when John Suitor barged his way through some weak tackling to score a well deserved try.




::OLDHAM 3rds beat Bury 3rds 20-10 despite falling behind to a converted try in the opening 15 minutes.



It was just the wake-up call Oldham needed and the forwards, in particular, responded with a dominant display.

Just before the interval, a series of pick and drives ended with Garry Phelan going over for his fourth try of the season.

The first 20 minutes of the second half was littered with mistakes from both teams and the only score was a Bury penalty.

However, the final 20 minutes saw the effects of the Oldham forward pressure pay off as they scored 15 points, starting with a penalty.

The first try of the half was scored by and converted by Lee Whitehead in the corner after a driving move before Lewis Simister finished things off with a touchdown.






::THE Oldham Vets/4ths were awarded the win when they travelled to Dukinfield 3rds.



The home side had only four players - it transpired 11 had gone to Rome to watch England - so Oldham made a wasted journey.