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OLDHAM 18 SALFORD CITY REDS 14

by ROGER HALSTEAD
 
WHEN Bill Quinn arrived at Oldham a year ago and began to pump significant sums of money into the club this was just the sort of Boundary Park night he envisaged . . . full of passion, energy, drama, skill and total commitment by players, culminating in sporting entertainment at its best.
 
The lead changed hands five times -- twice in the last few minutes -- and when Mick Nanyn crashed over in the corner for the winning try two minutes from the end you would have thought there were 13,000 fans in the ground, not a disappointing 1,350.
 
Most of them waited for the Oldham players to have their post-match debriefing on the pitch before giving them a standing ovation to shouts of "Oldham, Oldham" as they left to disappear up the tunnel.
 
It was that sort of night: what I think of as an old-fashioned Oldham rugby league night under floodlights. We have had a few of those in the last 40-odd years up there on the hill on the other side of town. In many ways, this ranked with the best.
 
It has taken Steve Deakin, his coaching staff and the players a few games to turn a mix of new, high-profile signings and selected members of last year's squad into a team, but that's exactly what they were last night -- a TEAM.
 
A TEAM that was totally committed to the task of taking on, and beating, full-time professionals from a higher division.
 
A TEAM that overcame adversity, and a stream of second-half penalties to Salford, to come from behind three times before clinching the win they fully deserved as the seconds ticked down to the final hooter.
 
A TEAM that was every bit as strong, skilful and purposeful as opponents who are tipped to win the Northern Rail Cup and to walk away with the NL1 championship to support their franchise bid for a quick return to Super League in 2009.
 
Said Tamghart, the fearless Frenchman, had his best game yet for Oldham. He ran strong and straight, covered every blade of grass on defence, and was clearly hell bent on making life difficult for one of the Reds' many danger men, hooker Malcolm Alker.
 
The Oldham pack laid the foundation for victory by matching the likes of Leuluai, Stapleton, Sibbit, Brocklehurst and Highton tackle for tackle, drive for drive, challenge for challenge. All the Oldham forwards played outstandingly well . . . Stevens, Joseph, Goulden, Boults and Tamghart were magnificent.
 
Behind them, James Coyle and Neil Roden ran the show. Salford scrum-half Stefan Ratchford tried desperately hard to organise things for the Reds in midfield, but his far more experienced stand-off John Wilshere had a quiet game, and it was left to Coyle and Roden to win the battle of the midfield brains trust.
 
Coyle had a blinder; Roden provided the cool, cultured authority of the more seasoned campaigner . . . and what a superb touch of skill from him when he unleashed Simon Baldwin in the second half with a peach of a pass round the man, which should have led to a try for Nanyn.
 
In the backs, Marcus St Hilaire looked very much at home at full-back; Nanyn and Danny Halliwell were strong in the centre; and Gareth Langley and Daryl Cardiss (until each was injured in the second half) worked hard on the flanks.
 
Ten minutes from the end the game was held up for a short while before Cardiss was carried off on a stretcher with a dislocated shoulder. He went staight to hospital, having been hurt while trying to prevent Jordan Turner's late try for Salford which nosed them in front at 14-12.
 
Salford went ahead early on when Brocklehurst followed his own kick to touch down in the corner while Oldham defenders appeared to hesitate as they tried to shepherd the ball over the dead bacll line.
 
Oldham replied quickly. Joseph and Goulden worked well to make inroads up Oldham's left side before the ball was swung quickly right across the face of goal for Coyle, Roden and St Hilaire to turn Halliwell back on the inside for a superb try, which Nanyn goaled.
 
Salford rarely looked like busting Oldham up the middle, but they had pace to burn on the outside in the shape of Andrew Ballard, Matt Gardner and Paul White, and it was Ballard who restored the Salford lead with a superb, long-range solo try on the half hour.
 
He stepped Tamghart deep in the Salford half, went clear, rounded St Hilaire and held off the covering Langley to go behind the sticks before converting his own try.
 
Next up came an altercation which largely featured the Oldham skipper Robert Roberts and the young Oldham-born Salford forward Lee Jewitt, who seemed to go high with a tackle on the Oldham forward. Roberts didn't like it and the pair had a go before both were sin-binned and the incident was placed on report.
 
With both sides town to 12, the classy Coyle capitalised with a great try in which he spotted a gap, accelerated between two defenders and turned on the gas to go round Karl Fitzpatrick and scored near the posts. Nanyn's goal eased Oldham into a 12-10 interval lead.
 
The second half was largely nip and tuck with chances at both ends of the field before the Reds got back in front with the Turner try.
 
Oldham refused to concede defeat, however, and they got their reward with Nanyn's last-gasp try, which he also goaled beautifully off the left-hand touchline to put the icing on a magnificent all-round Oldham performance.
 
Scorers: Oldham -- goals,Nanyn (3); tries, Halliwell, Coyle, Nanyn; Salford - goal, Ballard; tries, Brocklehurst, Ballard, Turner.
 
Oldham: St Hilaire; Langley, Halliwell, Nanyn, Cardiss; Roden, Coyle; Stevens, Joseph, Mervill, Goulden, Robert, Baines. Subs: Brooks, Boults, Baldwin, Tamghart.
 
Salford: Fitzpatrick; Ballard, Littler, Gardner, White; Wilshere, Ratchford; Leuluai, Alker, Stapleton, Sibbit, Brocklehurst, Turner. Subs: Highton, Borgese, Bannister, Jewitt.
 
Referee: M Dawber (Wigan)' Att:, 1, 350.