Lannon completes Roughyeds comeback

Ryan Lannon fired Oldham back to winning ways with a last-gasp try which completed a stunning Roughyeds comeback to end Sheffield’s four-match win streak.

Oldham made life difficult for themselves. After being three scores down, they fought back scoring 24 unanswered points, only to be pegged back by Sheffield with ten minutes remaining, forcing them to dig deep and find a late winner.

And it was Lannon, introduced off the bench, who showed tremendous strength to power his way over and send the Roughyeds supporters behind the posts into delirium.

Head coach Alan Kilshaw was impressed with his side’s character to find a win, despite not being at their best.

“We found a way to win,” he said. “That was the most important thing today.

It is a tough place to come and we were against an unbeaten side. I am very proud of the character we showed and the way we found that victory.”

Both sides were on the receiving end of sin-binnings and several penalties were given away for slow rucks, resulting in a high-scoring affair.

“I am a little bit concerned with the direction the sport is going at the minute,” admitted the Oldham boss.

There are lots of possession swings and six agains. Some of that is inconsistent as well.

At Championship level, every side is semi-professional barring one team, so it might need to be refereed differently.

It is too quick and injuries are occurring. It is frantic and especially at Championship level, you haven’t got the time to check with the video referee.

We need to be a bit more sensible, I think.”

Sheffield opened the scoring via a Jordan Lilley penalty, but it was Oldham who grabbed the first try after some individual work from Josh Drinkwater, who spun his way over the line.

The Eagles capitalised, with Oldham conceding several penalties, with Harry Bowes eventually crashing over from close range.

George Griffin increased the advantage, as he broke through just before the half-hour mark and Billy Walkley made it 20-6 after he finished off from a Ross Oakes break.

But Roughyeds found a momentum-swinging try just before half-time, and it came when Morgan Smith wriggled free of a tackle to ping a kick for Bayley Liu who scored on his debut.

Buoyed by that try, Oldham came out firing and it was Brad Day who grounded off a Matty Wildie grubber, to further chip away at Sheffield’s lead.

Matty Ashurst continued his try-scoring form as he powered through unopposed – a try which allowed Josh Drinkwater to level the scores at 20-20 with the conversion.

Smith grabbed one to put Oldham in front before Cole Geyer sneaked in from dummy-half, but Sheffield did not give in.

Billy Walkley dived over in the corner and George Griffin levelled the scores, shortly after Ashurst was sinbinned.

Roughyeds, too, dug deep. It was the sheer power of Ryan Lannon that proved decisive. He charged through Kai Morgan, Joe Brown, and Jack Bussey to seal the win, sending the supporters behind the posts into raptures.

Attention now turns to Hunslet next weekend, with Oldham back at Bower Fold, and Kilshaw has urged supporters to get behind his side.

"It will be really good to have a big crowd next weekend all behind the players,” he said.

You can see the improvement and what we are trying to do here. To everyone who came out today, and those who followed it on social media – we feel the support and we want to repay it.

Ryan [Lannon] scoring in front of them was brilliant. We showed a lot of character – finding a way to win and digging in – that was evident today.”