ORUFC 2nd's suffer narrow defeat

In light of the 1st XV’s game away at Colne & Nelson being cancelled due to unfit pitches, ORUFC’s only senior game of the weekend was the 2nd XV’s home fixture facing Carrington for the 2nd time this season after an away loss earlier in this year’s league campaign.

Carrington arrived with some short of a full fifteen, with Oldham lending players to keep the game going ahead as planned, albeit with uncontested scrum’s due to Carrington’s lack of front row players. Much thanks goes to the Oldham players who put on a shirt for Carrington, a list which included Louis Fitton, Freddie Maders, James Edwards, Philip Marsh and Cameron Smyth, amongst others.

The game began with Carrington winning a number of tries, and a drop goal in the first half despite some strong attacking phases from Oldham, with strong ball carrying coming from the forwards pack. Andrew Hurley, team captain Henry Nicklin, Andrew Birch, and Chris Brown all made strong yards in these critical attacking phases, orchestrated by returning player Joshua Cimmermanis at scrum-half, but failed to convert this into points. Cimmermanis, along-side Phil Conroy and fly-half Martyn Swaine also made crucial yards in Oldham’s attacking phases.

At half time the score stood 0-22 in favour of Carrington.

With Oldham making a number of changes for the 2nd half, seeing Josh Semple, Lewis Ward, Owen Hewson, stepping onto the field. With fresh legs on the pitch, Oldham’s attack found itself much snappier with more breaks and opportunities opening up for the home side. Of particular note was Owen Hewson’s full length try arising from a successful steal in the line-out from 2nd row Ollie Twyford.

Tries were also scored by Oldham players Carter West, Rhys Ward, and Louis Fitton bringing Oldham into the lead, with the score standing at 24-22 by the last 2 minutes of the game, Oldham withheld attack from Carrington, preventing another try, but unfortunately gave away a penalty. Carrington chose to kick for points, and scored the penalty earning them three points and bringing them back into the lead by a solitary point. The game stood at 24-25 in the 78th minute.

A surge of attack from Oldham saw them win the opportunity for a lineout on the opposition’s 22, but sadly the ref blew and the game was up.

A frustrating loss for the Oldham 2nd XV, but one that the team can leave with their head held high as it was only possible with their offer of players to the opposition - who leave with only half-points for their victory. Next week the 2nd XV face Village Spartans away, hoping for a repeat of our previous match against them at home this season, which gave Oldham a 68-19 victory.