Day of misery for Oldham

Photo: Chris Sunderland

ALL HANDS TO THE PUMP . . . Oldham’s ‘A’ team pack gets stuck in.

ST BENEDICTS 14, OLDHAM 5
RUGBY UNION: FRUSTRATED and aggrieved following a depressing day in Cumbria, Oldham must have wished they had not bothered making the three-hour journey for this North Lancs/Cumbria Division fixture.

The Manor Park men played some good rugby on a narrow pitch and both teams scored a try.

But Oldham - despite territorial advantage and more possession - did not get one kickable penalty, whereas the home team received three.

Oldham were also annoyed that high tackles went unpunished and that some members of the crowd became involved in a fracas.

An Oldham official said: “I have tried for six years to influence the RFU into changing the league structure to give teams in our division Lancashire fixtures only.

“But nothing has come out of the talks due to the Cumbrian sides wanting to travel to our area.

“Unless our fortunes change, we will be relegated anyway.”

Brian Massey, Dean McEwen and Paul Wardle held the upper hand in the front row while, in the loose, the pack had several periods in which they picked up and drove forward.

But offsides went unpunished and the ball inevitably ended back in Oldham’s half, much to their frustration.

Two Christian Wood penalties gave the hosts a 6-0 half-time lead, but a series of drives early in the second period ended with Gareth Barber scoring an unconverted try.

It was all Oldham and Mark Goodman crossed the line, only for the referee to rule the ball had not been grounded correctly.

The game was settled when St Benedicts scored following a rolling maul and the final kick in the teeth for Oldham came in the last minute when a penalty kick denied them a bonus point.

The journey back to Oldham in snow and rain completed a thoroughly-miserable day.