Rampant Roughyeds deliver statement Widnes win

Oldham produced a dominant performance to beat Widnes 22-4 to maintain their top-four push in style at Sedgley Park.

The Vikings had toppled Championship leaders Toulouse last week but had no answer to a ruthless Roughyeds side who scored tries through Mathieu Pons, Mo Agoro, Phoenix Laulu-Togaga'e and Ben O'Keefe in a match played on a temporary venue in Whitefield due to a delay in pitch renovation work at Boundary Park.

"We knew we had to play tough and we certainly did that," head coach Sean Long told Roughyeds TV. "Especially our defence which was the best it has been for a while."

Long made a bold decision to hand Logan Astley a start in place of the experienced Danny Craven at half-back, with Mo Agoro back in for Jack Johnson on the wing and Elijah Taylor starting at hooker, preferred to Bailey Aldridge.

And the home side made a big start, keeping Widnes on the back foot even before the Vikings lost half-back Joe Lyons to injury just seven minutes in.

French youngster Pons continued the fine start to his career at Oldham with an opportunist try which broke the deadlock, pouncing to ground Josh Drinkwater's kick, the Aussie adding the extras for a 6-0 lead.

The Vikings enjoyed three successive sets on the Oldham line but the stubborn defensive effort instilled by Long did its job. The Roughyeds should have been further clear before half-time, as Matty Ashurst was halted just short and Eloi Pelissier threw a forward pass in a dangerous attacking position to the right side.

And Oldham even managed to make it harder for themselves right on the hooter when centre Ben Davies was sin-binned for delaying the restart by kicking the ball away.

But even with 12 men there seemed little chance of Oldham taking the foot off the gas. A smart move straight from the scrum saw PLT put Agoro in for a powerful finish in the corner, Drinkwater missing from the tee as the lead stretched to 10-0.

PLT then scored himself from a highly unlikely source. A bouncing ball was plucked out of the air with relish by Ted Chapelhow who fizzed a fantastic ball to send Phoenix through the gap for a 16-0 lead.

A Ben O'Keefe intercept try extended the score to 22-0, but just when it looked like a deserved shut-out had been achieved, Widnes snuck in at the corner for a late consolation.

"We controlled the ruck and our effort to scramble, rescue and win it back was outstanding. They had a lot of possession but we held them out. We weren't flash with the ball but our defence was bang on and I was really pleased," said Long.

It's a mad league, anyone can beat anyone. If you are not on in this comp then you are getting rolled. This was back to something like it."

Oldham did lose Ryan Lannon to a rib injury which will be assessed this week, George Hirst picked up a head knock and Mo Agoro suffered some pain in his on-going abductor injury.

This was always going to be a big test of Oldham's Championship credentials and the performance should give the squad huge confidence of what it can achieve this year. When the Roughyeds can combine their stubborn defence with incisive attacking lines and energy, there are not many teams around who can live with them.

Next up is Sheffield back at Boundary Park next Sunday.