Roughyeds do the job in Rochdale

Oldham rounded off a remarkable Championship campaign with a convincing derby victory over Rochdale Hornets – their 21st league win of the season.

The result caps a superb regular season for the Roughyeds, who have secured their highest league finish since dropping out of Super League in 1997.

Their 21 victories also represent their best return in a season since 2001.

Alan Kilshaw and his men were made to work hard for the points, however, with Oldham forced to defend set after set on their own line – valuable preparation ahead of next week’s home play-off against Widnes Vikings.

Hornets took the lead through Dan Nixon, who did well to collect Jack Hansen’s high cross-field kick and touch down.

Rochdale looked set to double their advantage from another kick moments later, but as Jordan Paga dived over to score, referee Scott Mikalauskas blew for offside.

There were plenty of spilled balls from both sides in the wet conditions at the Crown Oil Arena, and when Dan Nixon failed to collect a high kick from Josh Drinkwater, Jack Walker pounced to level the scores.

With one eye on the home play-off tie, several men were rested including goal-kicker Morgan Smith. Taking over kicking duties was Ben O’Keefe who made a hash of his first two attempts, before nailing the rest.

Kilshaw’s changes handed Valu Tanē Bentley his debut and Fin Irwin his first start, with both forwards impressing.

It took until the half-hour mark for Roughyeds to edge in front and it came via a free-flowing move involving Drinkwater, Walker and Tom Nisbet with the result a Luke Forber try in the corner.

Not long after, Oldham extended their advantage, with Ben Davies rising highest to collect Drinkwater’s kick before powering over.

Tom Nisbet showed great initiative after Walker spilled Drinkwater’s kick backwards, flicking the ball back between his legs to allow Luke Forber to pounce for his second.

Just before the break, Matty Ashurst crashed over from close range to give Oldham a 22-point cushion.

The second rower’s try was his 16th of the season – his best-ever tally across a 17-year career, having never previously reached double figures.

Hornets restored some pride just before the hour mark, with Jack Hansen grounding a grubber.

The try came after Ted Chapelhow was sin-binned for persistent fouling, with Oldham having been forced to defend set after set on their own line.

Late on, Bayley Liu got on the end of another delayed Josh Drinkwater pass to score, before Rochdale’s TJ Boyd grabbed a length-of-the-field try on the hooter after intercepting.

Roughyeds ultimately got the job done, with attention now swiftly turning to their play-off clash with Widnes.