BETFRED CHAMPIONSHIP: ROUND FIVE
Midlands Hurricanes 20-40 Oldham RLFC
By Ian Golden
Oldham put on a masterclass in the first 26 minutes of the match, but Midlands made them fight for their win for the majority of the rest.
They say you don’t change a winning side. Well that was nearly the case for Midlands, as they made just the one change to last week’s victory, with new signing, the Irish international Aidan McGowan coming in for Toby Warren. Even the bench was identical to last week’s near-perfect match against Batley.
But this week’s encounter was always going to be more difficult, despite the league positions, with Oldham fielding a side with plenty of experience, which showed in that first period of the match.
They took the lead inside three minutes after a dropped ball set up a set of six for the away side, culminating in Keiron Dixon scoring in the corner, but he was unable to convert his own try. The away side kept pressing and after winning a six-again, Dixon scored his second try in exactly the same spot. This time, his kick went in off the post, to put the score onto 10-0.
It took until the 12th minute before Midlands had any possession in Oldham’s half, and they were close to scoring after being awarded a six-again, only for Lewis Else’s grubber to be collected. After forcing their opponents into an error, Midlands won a scrum on Oldham’s 30-metre line, and again Else’s grubber on the final tackle came to nothing.
But from the restart, Oldham scored from their next set, as Matty Ashurst made it look easy as he ran through the Midlands players to score. Again, Dixon’s goal attempt hit the post, but this time it didn’t fall in through the sticks. The onslaught continued. Oldham forced Midlands into a goal-line drop-out, which resulted in try number four. Owen Farnworth forced his way under the posts and Dixon easily converted.
Four minutes later, it was the turn of Morgan Smith to score. He made a clean break from 40 metres to also put the ball under the black dot. There were no issues for Dixon with the kick and their points tally rolled into 26 in as many minutes. At this point, Oldham were on 70 percent possession and making full use of it.
Finally Midlands broke their deadlock on 37 minutes and it was well-deserved as it came after nearly ten minutes of constant pressure. Else was the player who dived over, then converted, but that came just a few minutes after Tom Wilkinson had been held up over the line.
The score was 26-6 at the break and five minutes into the second half it was 26-10 after Wales international Luis Roberts celebrated St David’s Day with a try in the corner. Else couldn’t land the kick. From kick-off, Midlands scored their third try. Ryan Johnson outpaced all of his potential tacklers to score in the opposite corner, with Else’s kick again wide.
But Oldham were back in the game on 54 minutes. After winning a six-again, Ashurst dived over for his second try of the match with Dixon unable to land the extras. And they sealed things on the hour after multiple six-agains were awarded to them. It took 14 consecutive plays, but they finally grounded for the seventh time, this another unconverted try as Tom Nisbet scored in the corner.
Midlands still weren’t finished and scored a fourth try with ten minutes to go. Sully Medforth kicked and Todd Horner collected to ground. Else converted.
But Ben Davies put the icing on the cake for Oldham three minutes later as he cruised through a tiring Midlands line to score. Dixon converted well to put the score on to 40-20.
Both sides had opportunities for more scores before the hooter sounded for the end of this enjoyable encounter.
Man of the Match:
Todd Horner (sponsored by Yorkshire Ceiling Services)
Tries:
Else, L Roberts, Johnson and Horner
Conversions:
Else (2/4)
Attendance:
451
