ROUGHYEDS survived a slow and error strewn opening before producing a strong second-half performance to overcome a spirited Cornwall outfit 32-12 in the game’s south-west outpost.
Coupled with Hunslet’s 38-12 defeat by Swinton Lions it meant that Oldham go into the final two weeks of the regular season with a play-off spot very much in their own hands.
Cornwall dominated the early stages on the back of Oldham errors and went 12-0 up through a brace of tries by lively full-back Liam Whitton, both goaled by Joe Purcell.
The home side was helped by a 7-2 first-half penalty count and the enthusiasm and vocal support of the local crowd which was constantly revved up by regular requests from the man on the public address system.
The momentum changed somewhat on the stroke of half-time when skipper Martyn Ridyard put Dom Newton through a gap and under the posts for a converted try.
Three minutes into the second-half, Oldham drew level when James Thornton crashed in under the posts and Ridyard goaled once again.
Shortly after that, the lively replacement hooker Sean Slater was sin-binned for allegedly tipping one of the biggest forwards on the field, but despite that handicap, Roughyeds had a long period of good-ball dominance without adding to their score.
The, with the scores locked at 12-12, the visitors had a great escape when Cornwall’s giant sub forward Chris Chard dropped the ball going over in a strong tackle.
Roughyeds welcomed back Slater and then got well on top to put the game to bed with four tries in the last quarter by Connor Carr, Slater, Callum Cameron and Owen Restall, Ridyard improving two of them to finish with four goals from six shots.
Said coach Stu Littler:
“We got the job done in the end and full credit to the lads for that, but the first half performance left a lot to be desired and some harsh words were spoken at half-time.
“Having said that, there were reasons why we had to make late changes and we rallied well in the second half to pick up two more precious points.”
Scorers: Oldham – goals, Ridyard 4/6;,tries, Newton, Thornton, Carr, Slater, Cameron, Restall.
Cornwall – goals, Purcell 2/2; tries, Whitton (2).
CORNWALL: Whitton; Trerise, Jones-Bishop, Ashton, Aaronson; Prisk, Purcell; Bodman, Conroy, Ray, Odgers. Beer, Lloyd.Subs; Connolly, Bolger, Howe, Chard.
OLDHAM: Morgan; Copland, Carr, Hartley, Restall; Ridyard, Butterworth; Coventry, Yarrow, Spencer, Muranka, Cameron, Whittel. Subs: Slater, Newton, Thornton, Cooke.
Ref, Nick Bennett; HT: 12-6; Pens: 9-8;
