Hoylake 13-10 Oldham RUFC

Oldham made the trip to the Wirral on Saturday to play Hoylake, finding themselves on the losing side.

The chance to claim points with nearly all of the other matches in the league postponed due to the cold weather was on offer as Oldham looked to gain further momentum in the league before the mid-season switch at the end of the month.

Selection issues again were a problem for Oldham with a shortage of second and back row meaning positional changes and Simon Renshaw making his 1^st team debut. Phil Conroy went from the wing to back row to cover the injury and unavailability problems.

Oldham started well into the wind and should have scored within the first five minutes but the chance begging, however they crossed the whitewash a few minutes later when Lewis Ward picked up following a break from the Oldham backline to go through the ruck to score under the posts. With Alex Jobson making the conversion, Oldham took the lead 7-0 and all was looking well!

Oldham had the chance to add further points when superb lead up play by the forwards led to a two man overlap on the left edge with Fullback Jobson pretty much just having to put the ball down to score but decided to pass to Ryan Lord however Jobson’s pass went to ground with the home team getting a big let off. How Oldham would rue the missed opportunity.

Oldham then allowed Hoylake back into the game as they attacked wide from a set piece to score a converted try to almost even the score straightaway at 7-7.

The first half then became an arm wrestle between the two teams to get  a foothold of possession and territory. Another chance went for Oldham when Lewis Ward went from the base of a scrum down the right edge. Josh Semple had perfectly drawn the first defender to leave Ward and Reece Blakley a simple 2 vs 1 to score. Ward's pass went too high and behind Blakeley for another scoring opportunity gone.

Hoylake had a good amount of pressure towards the end of the first half on the Oldham line however the visitors defended resolutely and even missed a further chance to score just on half time to leave it all square at the break.

Oldham turned with the wind at their back for the second half and the message was to control possession and be patient in the scoring areas.

The second half started scrappy and neither team took control. Oldham finally added to their tally through Jobson who kicked a penalty to take the visitors up 10-7 with around 15 minutes gone in the second half. Again, the home team answered back swiftly with a penalty of their own following a penalty in the Oldham 22 area. With the score at 10-10 with 20 minutes left the game was there for either side.

Another chance came for Oldham as following good work on the right edge Reece Blakeley received the ball and beat three defenders to leave himself only a couple of metres from the line. As he went to the line the ball went from his grasp and another Oldham chance came and went.

Hoylake again worked their way up the pitch with Oldham’s defence being found wanting on numerous occasions. Another indiscretion led to another kickable penalty and Hoylake went up 13-10 with around ten minutes left.

Still time for Oldham to answer back and take the win. Tom Davies made a break down the right edge and looked inside and gave a speculatory pass when he perhaps should have kept hold and then with five minutes to go Sean Carter broke the defensive line and was in the motion of scoring when again the ball came loose in the act of scoring.

With the clock ticking away Oldham were camped in the Home teams 22 area and with only seconds left Oldham won a penalty 5 metres out but with the home team keeping hold of the ball Elliot Scanlon Wells struck a Hoylake player attempting to get the ball and the referee issued a red card and then reversed the penalty decision. Hoylake kicked the ball out and game over with the home team winning 13-10.

A coach’s nightmare for Oldham’s staff with the amount of chances gone begging. A chance to go 2^nd in the league table gone begging. Will Oldham look back at this result at the end of the season and think what could have been?

Simon Renshaw was awarded man of the match on debut for a superb shift in the second row giving everything around the park during his stint.