Littler offered plenty of encouragement despite Vikings defeat

Sustained second-half pressure from Widnes Vikings meant they came away victors in a match where Roughyeds scored four tries and showed plenty of guile and effort.

The Championship side came out firing in the second half after an error-strewn opening 40 minutes, during which Oldham took full advantage.

The 6 ft 7in prop Adam Lawton caused Roughyeds a number of problems and scored a hat-trick of tries after regularly breaking through the defence.

After a rocky start, where Oldham conceded a try in the first minute, Roughyeds soon found their feet and went ahead 14-12 at the break.

Vikings’ first try came from deft play by Tom Gilmore, their new half-back from Batley Bulldogs.

He showed his class to find Jack Owens who, subsequently, played in the unopposed Brookes on the wing.

Despite Widnes already having their first run-out of the year, when they beat Rochdale Hornets 46-6 a week earlier, it was Oldham who looked fitter and slicker.

After their first try, Oldham wrestled control and capitalised on an error-strewn and rusty Widnes.

There was good work from the likes of Kian Morgan and Martyn Ridyard in forcing loose balls, as well as offloads by Luke Nelmes and Dom Newton.

Both Sean Slater and Jordan Paga showed their talents, ducking and diving through gaps in the Widnes defence.

Patrick Ah Van made metres with every carry in the first 40 minutes, and his hard work was rewarded when he went over in the left corner in the 11th minute.

There was trickery by Matty Wilkinson for Ah Van’s first try; he fooled the Widnes defence in opting to play in Ah Van, rather than pass it out to his right.

Barely ten minutes later and Ah Van was in again.

The former NRL and Widnes man was in acres of space when he was played in directly from the scrum.

Widnes fought back and, after some sustained pressure helped by the introduction of the towering Adam Lawton, they scored through Jack Owens.

Oldham’s response came shortly after through another try from the scrum.

This time Slater - who came on from the bench - opted to go right and, after some quick passing, Joe Hartley scored to make the score 14-12.

Shortly after the break, Adam Lawton capitalised on confusion in the Oldham defence who believed Lawton had been tackled when he had not.

Thus, Lawton strolled through unopposed to the bemusement of Roughyeds who were looking to a referee for a decision that never came.

Oldham, during a large chunk of the second half, were camped out in their own half as they struggled to make metres while Widnes heaped on the pressure.

Roughyeds stood firm for large parts when Vikings had the ball but, eventually, they found their way in through Lawton again.

Despite being 30-14 down, Stuart Littler’s men battled on.

There was good work to force Widnes into touch, which later resulted in a try from Wilkinson who spotted a gap.

In the last ten minutes, there was time left for Widnes to find two more tries through Matty Fozard and Oliver Davies.

Jack Blagbrough was sin-binned for a high tackle late on when Oldham’s indiscipline got the better of them.

Joe Taira, who was named on the bench but did not feature, was not risked after he picked up a knock in training on Saturday.

After four months out, there was plenty to be pleased about in the performance and a lot to take forward next week against Rochdale Hornets in the Law Cup.

Teams:

OLDHAM: Mcnally; Hartley, Wellington, Morgan, Ah Van; Ridyard, Sheridan; Nelmes, Wilkinson, Newton, Ferry, Baker, Meadows.

Subs: Slater, Blagbrough, Paga, Bardsley, Yarrow, Keppel, Hamilton, Taira (all but Taira used).

WIDNES: Owens; Brookes, Fleming, Roberts, Dixon; Lyons, Gilmore; Johnson, Johnstone, Amor, Wilde, Davies, Field.

Subs: Brown, Edge, Fozard, Hatton, Holroyd, Lawton, Millar, Tilleke, Walker (all used).

---

Do you have a story for us? Want to tell us about something going on in and around Oldham? Let us know by emailing news@oldham-chronicle.co.uk , calling our Oldham-based newsroom on 0161 633 2121 , tweeting us @oldhamchronicle or messaging us through our Facebook page. All contact will be treated in confidence.