Oldham St Anne's 16 - 12 Rochdale Mayfield NCL

Ben Duffy and Taurean Sheehan get to grips with St Anne's

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Rochdale Mayfield's Hatton's National Conference League campaign stuttered again on Good Friday, away at Oldham St Anne's.

Matt Calland's men were looking to build on last weekend's victory but St Anne's were desperate to get their League points tally off the mark, and this desperation showed in their enthusiasm and grit in defence.

Mayfield looked the bigger, fitter and more prepared outfit and started well as they got the first two possesions of the game, with tough defence on the Oldham side as they attempted to clear their lines.

On the third set Aiden Gleeson charged to the try line on the last play, dummied and powered through,leaving defenders in his wake for a try he converted himself for a 0-6 lead.

That was as good as it got for the visitors.

The home side scrum half got the ball on the last tackle with seemingly little on, but lazy markers gifted him space and he darted through to put his winger over. 4-6 and the scoreboard was not troubled again in the first half as Mayfield were aimless in attack but resolute in defence, and they had to be as they continually gave field position and possesion to the Oldham side by failing to complete sets and conceding needless penalties time and time again.

The half time break had no effect and the home side soon took the lead. Again Mayfield had gifted possesion and 3 sets on their line from errors and penalties, but they seemed to have weathered the storm as Terry Whaley intercepted a pass and ran 40 metres in the clear to relieve the pressure. That hard work was undone as he dropped the ball and in the next set of tackles the St Anne's stand off twisted through a tackle to score.

8-6 became 10-6 as Mayfield gave another penalty away, this time close enough to be converted.

Mayfield fought their way back and on the few occasions they managed to finish a set of possesion, they threatened the try line, but John Foy and Ian Sampson separately and Mark Biggins and Carl Abraham collectively, managed to bomb clear cut chances, and Paul Brearley and Terry Whaley were held up over the line.

With ten minutes to play and the home side leading by 4, Mayfield needed some field position.

What followed summed up the whole game, when Mayfield finally managed to kick for field position and with 5 minutes left Paul Brearley gave a neat inside ball fullback Rob Kershaw, who sprinted in from 20 metres for an Aiden Gleeson goaled try.

10-12 and Mayfield simply needed to hold the ball, but on the very next tackle, straight from the kick off Aiden Gleeson coughed up the ball and three tackles later the Oldham sides prop forward blasted over the line to take the league points from Mayfield's grasp.

On reflection Mayfield had only themselves to blame for the defeat as on the occasions they got in the home sides half they seemed to be able to score at will, this was not often enough as they lacked the enthusiasm and grit to clear their lines and get to the kick.

Best on the day for Mayfield was Ben Butterworth, who started in the forwards and was top tackler despite a move to the halves early in the game.

Team; Rob Kershaw. Kristian Duffy, Carl Abraham, Lee Bradley, John Foy, Ben Duffy, Paul Brearley. Maty Moores Taurean Sheehan, Aiden Gleeson, Ian Sampson, Terry Whaley, Ben Butterworth. Gareth Ellison, Simon Moore, Mark Biggins, Nick Hargreaves.