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OLDHAM 16 WHITEHAVEN 6

 
by ROGER HALSTEAD
 
OLDHAM defied snow, sleet, high winds and NL1 opposition to reach the Northern Rail Cup quarter-finals for the first time and to extend their winning run at Boundary Park to ten games.
 
Last year's beaten finalists came to Boundary Park with a new boss, Ged Stokes, in charge for the first time and after a rousing performance at Widnes seven days earlier which was later hailed in West Cumbria as a new beginning.
 
It looked as though it might have been, too, when Oldham began nervously; conceded the first three penalties of the game; went 0-6 down inside two minutes; and were guilty of mishandling time and time again. Four of Oldham's first five sets ended in error after Mick Nanyn had put the tie's kick-off into touch on the full at the Rochdale Road end of the ground.
 
Rougyeds got some respite with their first penalty and from the position gained James Coyle made a half break and Tommy Grundy was on hand to open Oldham's account and to cancel out a try at the other end by Saia Makisi. The respective goalkickers, Mick Nanyn for Oldham and youngster Marc Bainbridge for Haven duly converted.
 
Gaining in confidence and putting Haven under real pressure for the first time, Steve Deakin's men went further in front in the 24th minute. Spencer Miller, the visitors back-row forward, was sin-binned for a technical offence and Oldham moved the ball wide to the left. Marcus St Hilaire joined the line, received from Neil Roden, and used his quick hands to send Paul O'Connor in at the corner.
 
Three minutes later, Oldham scored a beauty -- one of the best tries seen at Boundary Park for a long time, certainly better than anything we've seen in the last two seasons.
 
Coyle again made the initial half-break, Danny Halliwell got with him, St Hilaire came in support on Halliwell's shoulder and Roden finished off by diving over the line to the right of the posts. Nanyn's goal, out of a snowstorm, took Roughyeds into a ten-point lead and that's how it remained until half time.
 
Indeed, there was no further score in the match. Much of the second half was played in a snowfall and, wisely, Oldham tightened up their game, produced a fabulous defensive performance and left it to their opponents to make the mistakes, given that they were by now chasing the game.
 
Without being too simplistic, the game was perhaps won and lost in a 12-minute spell midway through the first half when Oldham scored all their points and when Haven, in separate incidents, lost both Miller and Carl Sice to the sin bin. They were magical minutes for Oldham; minutes of madness for the Cumbrians.
 
Oldham also lost a player to the sin-bin in the second half, Simeon Hoyle being the subject of referee Ronnie Laughton's yellow card after the hooker had said what he thought about a decision.
 
Oldham coped better with Hoyle's absence than Haven did with the loss of first Miller and then Sice, but credit must go to a fabulous Roughyeds' defensive effort which kept the NL1 side scoreless after the first couple of minutes.
 
All the forwards did particularly well with Jason Boults and Said Tamghat getting through a mountain of work up the middle; Phil Joseph constantly taking on the Haven defence, be it from dummy half or loose forward; and Tommy Goulden producing a towering performance a little bit wider out in the left-side channel.
 
Roden and Coyle, at half back, dictated Oldham's pattern of play, with Roden emerging fully worthy of his classical try and Coyle again central to most of his side's attacking options, while taking on the line with sufficient guile and nous to set up teh first try for Grundy and the third for Roden.
 
There was another big-game performer operating at the back where Marcus St Hilaire was ice cool in receiving and returning Haven kicks, while still haviing enough left to link up intelligently on attack, as he did when playing a major role in O'Connor's try and also in Roden's touchdown.
 
Haven, who started off like a house on fire, had likely looking lads on attack in Broadbent, Makisi, Adebisi, Leroy Joe and, particularly, in hooker Graeme Mattinson and sub Carl Sice, but so dominant were Oldham in defence once they had shaken off their early collywobbles that the visitors lacked the collective composure to break them down.
 
They came close near the end when Mattinson was held up over the line; when Sice failed by inches to touch down Joe's grubber behind Oldham's defensive line and into the in-goal area; and when Makisi put Adebisi over in the corner only to find on-the-spot referee Laughton ruling the final pass forward.
 
Sky announced on Thursday night, during their screening of the Barrow v Batley tie, that the draw for the quarter-fnals will take place this coming Thursday night during the interval of the National League game they will be covering.
 
Scorers: Oldham - goals, Nanyn (20; tries, Grundy, O'Connor; Roden; Whitehaven - goal, Bainbridge; try, Makisi.
 
Oldham: St Hilaire; Langley, Littler, Nanyn, O'Connor; Roden, Coyle;Boults, Joseph, Mervill, Goulden, Halliwell, Grundy. Subs: Hoyle, Baines, Robinson, Tamghart.
 
Whitehaven: Broadbent; Calvert, R Jackson, Makisi, Adebisi; Joe, Bainbridge; McDonald, Mattinson, Edmondson, Miller, Fletcher, McAvoy. Subs: Sice, Eilbeck, Hill, M Jackson.  
 
Ref: Mr R Laughton (Barnsley); Att: 966.