Josh Drinkwater hat-trick drives Oldham to win at stubborn Doncaster

DONCASTER 26 OLDHAM 30
KASEY SMITH, Eco-Power Stadium, Sunday

A JOSH DRINKWATER try treble helped earn Oldham a narrow and hard-fought victory over the stubborn hosts, who had a hat-trick scorer themselves in Edene Gebbie.

The Roughyeds were by no means perfect, but they pounced at the right times, holding onto their lead in the second half to stave off Doncaster’s attempted fightback.

Sean Long’s side have been guilty of not making their pressure pay at times, with draws against Widnes and Batley springing to mind.

However this time they found a ruthless streak to inflict Doncaster’s fifth league defeat despite being far from their best.

The South Yorkshire side threw everything at Oldham and dangermen Connor Robinson and Craig Hall caused their defence a number of problems, but the visitors hung on for a first win at this ground since 2010.

The week before, a patched-up Oldham were well beaten by energetic Bradford, and for this game, there were five changes, partly reflecting injury problems.

The away side completed high in the opening stages and forced two goal-line drop-outs before Riley Dean, snaking past a frustrated Doncaster defence, darted in to open the scoring, with Drinkwater converting.

Oldham were nearly flawless in the opening quarter, capitalising on every mistake from Richard Horne’s side, with Jordan Turner striking next, powering over after a Doncaster forward pass deep inside their own half.

But the hosts swung into life before the half-hour mark and a scrappy end to a set caused chaos in the Oldham line with Jack Charles alert to ground wide out.

On 31 minutes, Adam Lawton was caught flying out of the line which left a gap for the quick Gebbie, who sprinted through, Connor Robinson’s second conversion making it 12-10.

However another unforced Doncaster error proved costly as Drinkwater seized the opportunity with a brilliant dummy which sliced a hole through the defence and allowed him to ease over then tag on the two.

A late shot on Drinkwater off the ball allowed the Australian to add a couple more points before the break.

The scrum-half was once again at the centre of the action early in the second period. His swirling kick caused chaos for Gebbie, who fumbled the ball barely a metre from his own try-line. From the scrum, Drinkwater darted through the defence to claim his second, then goaled.

Drinkwater grabbed his third on the right side after 56 minutes, with his fifth strike from the tee making it 30-12.

But 18th man Isaac Misky could hardly believe his luck when he feigned a pass from dummy-half and crashed over, with Robinson converting to spark a Doncaster onslaught.

Another high kick, this time from Craig Hall, was collected by Gebbie, who dived over to bring Doncaster closer, but Robinson’s missed goal attempt kept Oldham eight points in front.

Doncaster peppered the Oldham line and finally found a way through when Gebbie forced his third.

GAMESTAR: Josh Drinkwater came up with the big plays at the crucial moments to win Oldham the game.

GAMEBREAKER: Drinkwater’s three tries and five goals were key.

MATCHFACTS
DONCASTER
1 Craig Hall
5 Luke Briscoe
4 Reece Lyne
3 Brad Hey
18 Edene Gebbie
28 Jack Charles
7 Connor Robinson
8 Brad Knowles
9 Greg Burns
10 Suaia Matagi
14 Jacob Jones
11 Sam Smeaton
13 Loui McConnell
Subs (all used)
14 Watson Boas
15 Jordan Baldwinson
16 Tyla Hepi
17 Pauli Pauli
18th man (used)
20 Isaac Misky

Tries: Charles (26), Gebbie (31, 64, 79), Misky (61)
Goals: Robinson 3/5

OLDHAM
31 Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e
35 Jacob Douglas
36 Ben Davies
3 Jordan Turner
5 Josh Cartwright
7 Riley Dean
23 Josh Drinkwater
8 Gil Dudson
34 Tom Forber
19 Ted Chapelhow
11 Matty Ashurst
12 Adam Lawton
13 Adam Milner
Subs (all used)
21 Lewis Baxter
16 Pat Moran
30 George Hirst
27 Ryan Lannon