Fiery Hornets retain Law Cup

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Rochdale 26 - 20 Oldham

Fired-up Rochdale retained the Law Cup with a performance that spoke volumes for coach Bobbie Goulding’s powers of motivation.

Undoubtedly the underdogs on the day, Hornets put on a grand show at Spotland. With passion - exemplified by outstanding ex-Oldham forward Ian Sinfield - married to good ball control and an uncomplicated game plan, Rochdale piled on the pressure from the off to establish an advantage they never relinquished.

And it wasn’t until the latter stages of the game that a similar level of drive was evident from the Roughyeds - though it was ultimately in vain.

“We were out-enthused today,” admitted Oldham coach Steve Deakin.

“We scored four tries each and we had a couple of opportunities in the first half to score tries where we didn’t nail it on. And the reason we didn’t do so was because we lacked a bit in concentration.

“I’m not sure if the boys turned up today expecting the plaudits before they put the work in. But we got done on attitude today.

“You know when you come to play a Bobbie Goulding-coached team that they will be competitive and hard to beat. I didn’t expect anything different.

“I wasn’t disappointed in the expectations I had of them, but I was in the expectations I had of ourselves.”

Particularly in the first half, Oldham’s ball control was poor. Two knock-ons in the first two sets presented Goulding’s men with a good platform and they took advantage by opening the scoring as Sinfield dived over from close in to the line, Chris Hough converting.

Things appeared more promising when quick ball movement in the eighth minute gave Marcus St Hilaire the chance to open up his try-scoring account for Oldham, accepting Mick Nanyn’s pass to squeeze in at the left corner.

But while this should have been the catalyst for the Roughyeds to get their game together, Rochdale simply came back the stronger side.

Once again heavy pressure from the home team, allied to poor passing and ball retention from Deakin’s men, threatened to increase Rochdale’s lead.

After Oldham’s Danny Halliwell had been pushed into touch, when he should perhaps have passed to Craig Littler who had space to run into, impressive Hornets stand-off Martin Ainscough showed the way forward as he twisted, turned and touched down an excellent individual effort.

Chris Hough added two more points to the tally from the conversion, and also slotted home a penalty shortly before half-time after the Roughyeds had threatened through Paul O’Connor.

Rochdale were competing for absolutely everything and extended their lead 10 minutes after the break. St Hilaire’s ill-timed slip on the surface meant he was in no position to get back and defend Craig Bower’s chip over the top, which resulted in a simple try for full-back Chris Campbell. Bower converted, to leave Oldham looking down the barrel at 20-4 down.

Todd O’Brien came close to increasing that gap, only to knock on over the line as the Roughyeds struggled to contain a Rochdale side now bursting with confidence.

However, the next score belonged to the away side. Rob Roberts evaded two tackles and extended an arm to touch down on the left on the back of James Coyle’s pass.

Nanyn pulled the conversion wide, though. And matters soon took a downward turn as a superb restart bounced before going out of play, leaving Oldham to drop out from between the posts.

On the back of good field position, Bower hoisted a dangerous kick into the swirling wind, with Ainscough leaping highest to make a superb claim before grounding just inside the in-goal area for his second of the day. Bower converted once more to make the score 26-8 on the hour mark.

The rest of the game belonged to Oldham. Phil Joseph dived over from acting dummy half, Nanyn converting to give the travelling support some much-needed cheer.

And seven minutes from time, the decision to run the ball on the last paid off when a gap was created for Jason Boults to power his way through.

Nanyn’s conversion left a six-point gap to be bridged and it was all hands to the pump as Rochdale defended stoutly. But despite O’Connor diving to within a foot of the line, the Roughyeds couldn’t break through.

Sinfield almost rounded off his day by scoring on the final hooter, but as he hacked the ball on to the in-goal St Hilaire caught up to knock the ball out of play.

The final charge was too little, too late for Deakin. Though a derby defeat always hurts, he will hope his side have learnt their lesson before the competitive season begins this Friday evening.