LONDON BRONCOS 74 OLDHAM 8
KASEY SMITH, Cherry Red Records Stadium, Sunday

LONDON demolished Oldham to book their place in the Championship Grand Final, where they will bid to complete a remarkable treble.

Jason Demetriou’s full-timers were rampant from the outset, with tries flowing freely as Oldham struggled to contain them. Had this been a boxing match, the referee might already have been considering calling it off after the opening 20 minutes, but instead, the Roughyeds were made to suffer as the Broncos ran in 14 tries.

Oldham and their 200-strong contingent arrived in the capital full of optimism, dreaming of a first Grand Final appearance since 2001. Last month’s eye-catching 34-24 victory over London was still fresh in the memory, but the Broncos ensured there would be no repeat of that shock result.

When their first real opportunity to attack the Oldham line arrived, they made it count. James Meadows darted through a sizable gap to open the scoring in the third minute and give the Broncos the perfect start.

London’s power was proving increasingly difficult for Oldham to contain. With the Broncos again in good field position, Dean Hawkins’ high, hanging kick caused further problems as Brandon Webster-Mansfield rose highest to beat Jack Walker to the ball before touching down to double London’s advantage.

Oldham began to regain their grip on the game and appeared to have created an opening for Jake Bibby, only for an inaccurate O’Keefe pass to bring the move to an untimely end. Roughyeds tried the same play again shortly afterwards, but once more the final pass lacked the necessary precision.

Those mistakes were punished ruthlessly. London broke through, down Oldham’s right edge, allowing Robert Mathias to stroll over under the posts for their third try.

Elliot Wallis then pounced after Ben Davies was unable to hold on to another lofted Hawkins kick, further extending a lead that already had the Broncos scoring at more than a point a minute.

Every time London moved up the field, holes appeared in the Oldham defence, and Luke Smith was the next to go over. With less than half an hour played, the result already seemed a foregone conclusion, with the Broncos having avenged their only league defeat at the hands of the Roughyeds last month.

And the points just kept coming.

Reagan Campbell-Gillard brushed aside Bayley Liu before strolling over for London’s sixth try, completing a devastating first-half display and sending the Broncos into the break with a commanding 40-0 lead.

If Oldham thought that London would be taking their foot off the gas after the break, they were sorely mistaken, Robert Mathias breaking through for his second just two minutes after the restart. 

Voro was next to score, with Meadows converting to bring up the half century.

But Oldham did not give in, and after back-to-back penalties had handed them much-needed field position, Morgan Smith opted to run it himself, finding a consolation try after somehow managing to ground the ball despite the Broncos’ best attempts to force him into touch.

Neil Tchamambe and Emarly Bitungane joined in on the scoring, before the Roughyeds scored a second, Jake Bibby grabbing his 100th career try.

There was still time for another for Bitungane and a second for Tchamambe, who ran the length of the field to score on the hooter.

The Broncos will take some stopping against Doncaster in Sunday’s Grand Final.

GAMESTAR: Reagan Campbell-Gillard ran hard and Oldham struggled to restrict him.

GAMEBREAKER: When London scored their fifth try, there was no way back for Roughyeds.

MATCHFACTS

BRONCOS
18 James Meadows
2 Elliot Wallis
3 Robert Mathias
20 Brandon Webster-Mansfield
26 Neil Tchamambe
23 Gairo Voro
7 Dean Hawkins
8 Reagan Campbell-Gillard
9 Sam Davis
10 Emarly Bitungane
12 Jack Croft
11 Luke Smith
13 Siliva Havili
Subs (all used)
1 Morea Morea
6 Connor O’Beirne
14 Finley Glare
24 Lewis Bienek

Tries: Meadows (3), Webster-Mansfield (8), Mathias (15, 42), Wallis (20, 57), Smith (22), Campbell-Gillard (26), Hawkins (32), Voro (45), Tchamambe (68, 80), Bitungane (72, 78)
Goals: Meadows 7/10, Voro 2/4

OLDHAM
1 Jack Walker
21 Tom Nisbet
4 Ben Davies
3 Ben O’Keefe
5 Jake Bibby
6 Morgan Smith
23 Josh Drinkwater
26 Brad Day
9 Matty Wildie
17 Lukas Mason
11 Matty Ashurst
27 Bayley Liu
13 Adam Milner
Subs (all used)
12 Ryan Lannon
14 Cole Geyer
15 Ted Chapelhow
18 Noah High

Tries: Smith (52), Bibby (75)
Goals: Smith 0/2
Sin bin: Drinkwater (38) – dissent, (64) – high tackle

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 10-0, 16-0, 22-0, 28-0, 34-0, 40-0; 44-0, 50-0, 50-4, 54-4, 60-4, 66-4, 66-8, 70-8, 74-8

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Broncos: Reagan Campbell-Gillard; Oldham: Brad Day

Penalty count: 7-8
Half-time: 40-0
Referee: Tara Jones