OLDHAM 13 DONCASTER 12
IAN WILSON, Boundary Park, Sunday
OLDHAM are increasingly looking like the Manchester region’s current top side, with no fewer than five recent refugees from Super League Salford in their squad for this game.
There was also a goodly spattering of Salford supporters, who had responded positively to the home chairman Bill Quinn’s generous offer of free admission for them for this final Boundary Park regular season fixture of the season.
And what a marvellous game of rugby the healthy attendance was treated to! At the final whistle, the margin in favour of the home side was just one point – and that simple statement hides details of a nail-biting and high-quality game of rugby.
The Roughyeds began as well as they could possibly have hoped, after both sides had lined up before the kick-off to say ‘thanks and goodbye’ to the newly-retired Oldham captain and former Super League player Jordan Turner.
The Roughyeds scored in the third minute as Ryan Brierley slid a grubber into in-goal on the final tackle. There was a ricochet, and Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e was the first to pounce on the rolling ball. Josh Drinkwater failed to convert from the touchline, but Oldham were up and running.
But if anyone was expecting that to be just the beginning of a comfortable stroll, the Donny response very quickly demonstrated that they had come to play.
The game soon settled into a tense contest between two very well-matched sides. Brad Hey bombed one gilt-edged chance when an overlap had been well-created down the Doncaster left, but the centre chose to pass – forward – for Edene Gebbie to touch down when he only needed to fall over the line himself.
It wasn’t too costly an error, though, as after Laulu-Togaga’e had just failed to notch a second, virtually identical score to his first, further visitor pressure down their left allowed Gebbie to charge over under the posts after Watson Boas had been held just short. Robinson’s conversion, and, as half-time approached, a simple penalty kick by Drinkwater, completed the first-half scoring.
The second half also saw only two tries scored, though the quality of the fare if anything rose even higher – and that amidst rainfall of biblical proportions for half of it!
The home pack started to gain territorial superiority as the game developed, but both sides’ defence proved unbreakable throughout the third quarter, and it was crying out for someone to show a piece of magic to open things out.
After PLT, again, Morgan Smith and Ben Davies had all gone close for Oldham, the magic came in the 62nd minute. A deceptively clever inside pass on half-way by Adam Milner was exploded onto by PLT, who sprinted 45 metres to draw the fullback and put the supporting Drinkwater under the posts. His conversion, and then an intelligent Ryan Brierley field-goal on the end of another Oldham attack in the 68th minute, gave them a two-score lead, with just 12 minutes left.
Inevitably, though, that was by no means the end of the story.
Donny came back strong, and although Oldham’s defensive effort showed extreme commitment at times, with five minutes to go, Craig Hall put a charging Gebbie clear of the last line of defence for a converted try. And then, virtually from the restart, slick passing put Gebbie away again for what looked a potential match-winner. But Ben O’Keefe somehow brought down the flying winger – and the match was done.
GAMESTAR: Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e produced the single classiest moment of the game, but Edene Gebbie on Doncaster’s left wing was by far the most consistently dangerous attacker on the field, albeit in the end in a losing cause.
GAMEBREAKER: In the 78th minute, somehow Ben O’Keefe managed to tackle a flying Edene Gebbie 40 metres out, by the touchline, with an open line in front of him – the match-winning piece of action.
MATCHFACTS
OLDHAM
1 Ryan Brierley
28 Ethan Ryan
24 Ben O’Keefe
38 Ben Davies
31 Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e
42 Morgan Smith
23 Josh Drinkwater
10 Owen Farnworth
9 Matty Wildie
12 Jack Ormondroyd
37 Ryan Lannon
44 Matty Foster
13 Adam Milner
Subs
30 George Hirst
40 Éloi Pélissier (not used)
15 Jay Chapelhow
35 Tom Whitehead
Tries: Laulu-Togagae (3), Drinkwater (62)
Goals: Drinkwater 2/3
Field-goals: Brierley (68)
DONCASTER
1 Craig Hall
5 Luke Briscoe
4 Reece Lyne
3 Brad Hey
18 Edene Gebbie
6 Ben Johnston
7 Connor Robinson
17 Josh Bowden
24 Watson Boas
10 Suaia Matagi
11 Sam Smeaton
14 Jacob Jones
8 Brad Knowles
Subs (all used)
20 Isaac Misky
16 Pauli Pauli
21 Tyla Hepi
22 Luis Johnson
Tries: Gebbie (12, 75)
Goals: Robinson 2/2
SCORING SEQUENCE: 4-0, 4-6, 6-6; 12-6, 13-6, 13-12
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Oldham: Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e; Doncaster: Edene Gebbie
Penalty count: 4-5
Half-time: 6-6
Referee: James Vella
Attendance: 2,334