Oldham topple table toppers

Oldham RUFC welcomed table topping Bury to Manor Park for Saturday’s league encounter.

Bury - who had only been beaten once all season and had beaten Oldham comfortably in the opening league fixture and then narrowly in a close National RFU cup fixture - were aiming to threaten Oldham’s unbeaten home record. 

Bury started the game with plenty of possession, playing with pace and structure and Oldham struggled to get a hold of the game in the first encounters, however it was the home team who opened the scoring when Oldham attacked down the left edge around halfway with ground being made by interplay between backs and forwards before Lewis Ward was found on the 22 metre line.  

He managed to outlast the final defender to put down under the posts probably against the run of initial play and after Alex Jobson’s successful conversion, Oldham led 7-0. 

Bury continued to enjoy the majority of possession and finally crossed over in the left corner following continued pressure on the Oldham line. 

The conversion was missed to leave Oldham with a slender 7-5 lead. 

The game continued in a similar vein with Bury on the front foot and Oldham defending well repelling the continued pressure.  

Oldham lost a player to the sin bin for team penalties and a nervy 15 minutes leading to half time followed however Oldham did well when down to 14 keeping Bury away from their line.  

A turning point in the match then followed as Bury had possession on the half way line and as their scrum half went down the blind side and sent a pass out, evergreen veteran winger Phil Conroy intercepted the ball and set off for the Bury line.  

With the Bury defenders up in the line on attack, Conroy showed a clean pair of heels to beat the chasing back Bury players to score a brilliant 50 metre effort.  

Jobson obliged with the conversion and with Oldham now back to a full complement lead 14 points to five with a few minutes left of the first half.  

The second half followed much the same pattern as the first with a resolute Oldham defence repelling Bury.  

It took the visitors 20 minutes to get over the Oldham line, and it came following time on the Oldham line as they touched down and with the conversion made with 20 minutes to go the score was 14-12. 

Bury continued to apply pressure and scored again on the right-hand side through their winger and with the conversion again made, Bury took a lead for the first time in the game with 12 minutes left to play at 19-14. 

Bury took play again into the Oldham half and were rewarded a penalty which was in an easily kickable position. However they decided against it and took a quick tap however the Oldham defence stood firm. 

Oldham then had a final effort up into the Bury half and following a concerted effort on the Bury line and a number of penalties the away side lost a player to the sin bin.  

From the resulting penalty Alex Jobson tapped and chipped over to the right-hand side into the arms of Louis Fitton who touched down.  

With the scores level Jobson stepped up and nailed the conversion from five metres in from touch to put the home side back in front at 21-19 with three minutes left. 

This seemed to knock Bury as Oldham managed to work up field running the clock down and after being awarded another penalty the home side kicked the ball out of play for the final whistle to go and with the home record intact Oldham celebrated a famous home victory.