Referee to fore as Saints fall to defeat

RUGBY:

FOR 60 minutes, Oldham St Anne’s matched National Conference League Division Two leaders Normanton Knights every step of the way.

But a couple of refereeing decisions turned the game on its head - and the high-flyers triumphed 42-16 thanks to a late flurry of tries.

The fall-out from the official’s second-half calls — after which a scuffle broke out — had a big impact. Three players were dispatched to the sin bin, two of them from Saints, and the extra man proved crucial as Knights stormed clear in the closing stages.

Despite some big hits up front, Saints were undeterred and when Lancashire spun a long pass out wide, Worrall was on hand to score his second try in the corner.

Chris Woolford replied for the home side and with an Adie Mulcahy conversion, Knights went 18-16 up.

At this point, a scrap broke out and with the hosts a man to the good, they pressed home their advantage with four unanswered tries.

This was a gutsy performance from Saints: the scoreline didn’t reflect the effort