ON a day when a fierce downfield wind, a high number of first-half penalties conceded and a growing casualty list all had a major bearing on the outcome of two evenly-matched sides, Oldham picked up a well-deserved league point in a 22-all draw at Hunslet.
Already without Tommy Brierley (broken leg), Sean Slater (knee) and Jason Muranka (head knock), Roughyeds went into the game minus last week’s main man, Jordan Andrade.
Said head coach Stuart Littler:
“Jordan got married yesterday. It was pre-booked before he signed for us. We wish him and his wife all the very best for their new life together.”
On top of all that, centre Calvin Wellington, who has been battling against sickness recently and didn’t figure against Keighley last week, had to leave the field after 20 minutes and go off to hospital.
Scrum-half Dave Hewitt, who rarely misses a minute of the action, was forced out of it just after half-time with a hip injury and then new-boy Jack Arnold, playing his first game for the club, didn’t last too long off the bench before he had to come off again with a leg injury.
To fill the gap left by Wellington’s withdrawal, Callum Cameron went from second-row to centre and James Thornton joined Ethan Ferry in the back three.
Brad Jinks started at hooker, but was recalled off the bench to fil-in for Hewitt at half-back early in the second half.
Andrade’s absence, Cameron’s switch to centre and Arnold’s second-half injury, heaped pressure on the other forwards and Littler was fulsome in his post-match praise for Emmerson Whittel, Tom Spencer and Like Nelmes.
He said:
“We were down on troops in the second-half, but the middles did really well. Emmy played the full 80, Tom nearly did and Luke did 60 or 65.
“Given that we were 22-4 up early in the second-half I thought it was a point lost to be honest. Hunslet targeted areas where our players and gone off injured, but we can still be a bit smarter as a collective.
“Nevertheless, we hung on in there in the second-half to get a point and now we’ll have to see how we are fixed injury-wise when the boys report for training on Tuesday.”
Oldham had use of the very strong wind in the first half and led 16-4 at half-time with tries by Ben Holcroft, Owen Restall (you can’t stop the full-back scoring) and Dave Hewitt.
Martyn Ridyard had a hand or foot in all of them and it was another Ridyard kick, this time into the wind, that set up a fourth try for Liam Copland, beautifully goaled by the Roughyeds captain off the right touchline, early in the second half.
He had reached the 1,000 career-goals milestone by landing another beauty off the left touchline earlier and with Oldham 18 points to the good after 45 minutes it was looking like Ridyard’s day with Roughyeds in the role of Geoff Gunney party-poopers.
Seven of the nine first-half penalties went to Hunslet, but that phenomenal advantage was negated by the wind which was pretty constant in the first half, when Oldham had it, but which played tricks in the second half, mainly to the Roughyeds’ advantage.
While Ridyard kicked three from four (two of them off the touchline), Jack Mallinson landed one from five – another major factor with two of his late shots off the right touchline passing narrowly wide of the far post because the wind had dropped.
By the time Ridyard and Jinks were bidding for late drop goals at the other end it was up again and in their faces and their attempts fell well short.
In the event, Hunslet totally dominated the last half hour when Oldham toiled with all their injuries, players playing out of position and a struggle with substitutions.
The home side, with half-back Mallinson calling all the shots and full-back Jimmy Watson a constant threat, was particularly adept at throwing the wide, cut-out pass to the wing.
Four of their five tries came from this tactic, with right-centre Jack Render and his winger Wayne Rettie (2) both capitalising as Hunslet scored 18 unanswered points to draw level.
Despite lorry loads of adversity, though, Roughyeds came away with a point – and that’s got to be a plus for a side playing only its third competitive game together, away from home and against one of the division’s northern heartland clubs.
Team: Restall; Copland, Hartley, Wellington, Holcroft; Ridyard, Hewitt; Nelmes, Jinks, Spencer, Cameron, Ferry, Whittel. Subs: Wright Thornton, Arnold, Coventry.
Referee: B Milligan
