FEATHERSTONE ROVERS 28 OLDHAM RLFC 12
KASEY SMITH, Millennium Stadium, Sunday

FEATHERSTONE outclassed Oldham with a commanding victory to strengthen their bid for a fifth-place finish, which would set up another clash between the two sides in the knockout rounds.

Rovers’ play-off ambitions suffered a setback with their heavy defeat to Widnes Vikings a fortnight ago, leaving them eager to bounce back in this clash and move a step closer to sealing a playoff berth.

Oldham may have already secured a home tie in the play-offs, but with their patchy record against top-six opposition, victory over Rovers on home turf – which they haven’t managed since 2003 – would have provided a timely and significant boost.

Both sides were missing key players, with Ryan Hampshire out and Oldham opting not to risk star playmakers Ryan Brierley and Josh Drinkwater, who picked up niggles during the week.

The Roughyeds were outmuscled for much of the game, with the Rovers relentlessly suffocating Sean Long’s side, who rarely ventured into the opposition half. Oldham often came up with moments of brilliance, against the odds, but the fact is Featherstone were always in control.

Roughyeds can take heart in having their star players yet to return, but Oldham will need to raise their game significantly if they are to make a dent in the play-offs.

After a dominant opening ten minutes from Featherstone – driven by a series of towering Reynolds kicks that tested the Oldham defence – Rovers earned a penalty, with Reynolds calmly slotting the conversion to give his side an early 2-0 lead.

Rovers were unrelenting, forcing three goal-line drop-outs before finally breaking through on 24 minutes. Another Reynolds kick was perfectly-placed, and Derrell Olpherts soared above Jack Johnson to claim and ground the ball, extending the lead to two scores after Reynolds’ second successful conversion.

Rovers had been in complete control and should have been further ahead, but they finally got their reward when a slick move sent Bailey O’Connor slicing through the line to score under the posts, stretching the lead to three scores by half-time, following Reynolds’ third conversion.

In a flash, all that hard work was undone when Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e launched a towering bomb, collected by the leaping Ethan Ryan, who offloaded to Ryan Lannon to dive in under the posts on the stroke of half-time.

Oldham began the second half with greater intent, but when a pass went astray, chaos followed. Derrell Olpherts pounced ahead of Ryan to claim the loose ball, sending it on to O’Connor, who raced the length of the field to notch his second try.

Again out of nowhere, the Roughyeds hit back. A looping pass from Eloi Pelissier found Owen Farnworth, who slipped the ball to Tom Whitehead; he charged forward and powered over the line to score his first try for Oldham.

Just before the hour mark, Jimmy Beckett was presented with an almost effortless opportunity to extend the lead, darting through a gaping hole in the Oldham defence to make it 26-12.

Reynolds added another two points in the dying moments from the kicking tee with Oldham successfully nullified.

GAMESTAR: Ben Reynolds dominated the match and was key in building pressure with his kicks, although with Reynolds set to face a disciplinary tribunal this week, Paul Cooke may need a plan B in the coming weeks.

GAMEBREAKER: Jimmy Beckett’s stroll-over, which Oldham should have dealt with, meant Oldham would have had to come up with three scores in the last quarter.

MATCHFACTS
ROVERS
1 Caleb Aekins
23 Connor Wynne
5 Gareth Gale
24 Bailey O’Connor
2 Derrell Olpherts
13 Danny Addy
6 Ben Reynolds
8 Gadwin Springer
9 Will Jubb
10 Jimmy Beckett
11 Brad Day
17 Clay Webb
37 Nathan Wilde
Subs (all used)
14 Connor Jones
16 King Vuniyayawa
21 Jordan Williams
19 Robson Stevens

Tries: Olpherts (24), O’Connor (35, 45), Beckett (57)
Goals: Reynolds 6/6

OLDHAM
28 Ethan Ryan
20 Jack Johnson
24 Ben O’Keefe
38 Ben Davies
2 Kieran Dixon
31 Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e
42 Morgan Smith
12 Jack Ormondroyd
9 Matty Wildie
10 Owen Farnworth
37 Ryan Lannon
44 Matty Foster
13 Adam Milner
Subs (all used)
40 Eloi Pelissier
15 Jay Chapelhow
30 George Hirst
35 Tom Whitehead

Tries: Lannon (40), Whitehead (52)
Goals: Dixon 2/2

SCORING SEQUENCE: 2-0, 8-0, 14-0, 14-6; 20-6, 20-12, 26-12, 28-12.

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Rovers: Ben Reynolds
Oldham: Owen Farnworth

Penalty count: 6-3
Half-time: 14-6
Referee: Liam Rush