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OLDHAM 36 YORK CITY KNIGHTS 26
 
by ROGER HALSTEAD
 
ROUGHYEDS overcame a gritty, enthusiastic, skilful and pacy York side to register their third win in three NL2 outings thanks to a six-minute purple patch early in the second half.
 
Between the 44th and 50th minutes, Tommy Goulden, Said Tamghart and Paul O'Connor went in for tries and Mick Nanyn converted all three to give the home side a 32-14 lead.
 
A moment or two earlier, it had needed a long-range Nanyn penalty goal on the stroke of half-time -- the hooter had already sounded -- to force equality at the turn-around, 14-14. Knights had twice come from behind in the first half to take the lead at 8-6 and then 14-12, but once Nanyn had levelled they were never to hit the front again.
 
Oldham's whirlwind start to the second half was to prove decisive and coach Steve Deakin had no difficulty after the match in acknowledging that, apart from those six superlative minutes while latecomers were still taking their seats again for the second half, there was little to choose between the sides.
 
He was more concerned, thouigh, with the fact that Castleford referee Matthew Kidd dished out 28 penalties in the game: 16 to York and 12 to Oldham. He did not understand how his side, who had conceded an average eight penalties a game so far this year, could suddenly come up with 16 infringements.
 
He was not critcising the referee, but he felt it was time for the benefit of the game as a whole that those in charge of rugby league in high office should get together with all parties to solve the problem of rule interpretations. He was particularly frustrated, he said, because he would sometimes seek clarification on rules in midweek and then discover, come Sunday, that referees were applying them differently.
 
In the absence of the injured Rob Roberts, Deaks handed the captaincy to young scrum-half James Coyle. York watched him like a cat stalking a mouse. They had clearly done their homework on Roughyeds. They collared Coyle to become the first side in eight games to stop him scoring at least one try, and they also clamped down on stand-off Neil Roden.
 
They perhaps saw that as Mission Accomplished. Their defensive strategy aimed at stopping the home halves certainly went  a long way to seeing Knights level at the break with three goals by Lee Mapals and tries by Danny Grimshaw and Mapals , against three goals by Nanyn and tries by Gareth Langley and Danny Halliwell.
 
What Knights couldn't do with Oldham's halves was to quiten them completely, and it was Roden who largely instrumental in puttting Langley over in the corner for the first try after four minutes, and it was Coyle who timed his pass to perfection to send in Halliwell on the half hour.
 
In the second half the early Oldham blitz followed on the back of forward dominance from the likes of Adam Robinson and Said Tamghart. They got Oldham moving forward and this enabled Simeon Hoyle, from dummy half, to further promote the home attacking momentum with a series of breaks and half-breaks Also, it was Hoyle who pushed up a flat pass from dummy half near the York line to send Goulden crashing over .
 
For the next try, Coyle put Tamghart in and then O'Connor touched down in the corner after good work by Nanyn, who had excelled defensively just before half time when he hurled York centre John Oakes into touch at the corner flag with a stunning and despairing last-ditch tackle.
 
In fairness to Oldham, they could have had more points on the board because Langley went in for a second try only to have it ruled out for a forward pass from Craig Littler, and then in the second half Jason Boults powered his way over the line on Coyle's short pass, but the referee ruled he did not touch down correctly in a three-man challenge.
 
A Nanyn try was to follow in the 65th minute, but Knights also went in for two late tries of their own -- Ross Divorty on Danny March's defence-splitting grubber kick and Danny Ratcliffe after superb handling and passing by Danny March, Mark Applegarth and Matt Danville.
 
Mapals converted both to finish with five goals, a try and full marks for stopping Hoyle, who looked a certain scorer as Oldham mounted their major offensive after their interval pep talk.
 
The March twins marshalled the Knights superbly well and others to enhance their reputations in a side that, staggeringly, is still seeking its first win in all competitions this season were Ratcliffe, Mapals, Grimshjaw, hooker Gareth Greenwood and substitute Divorty.
 
The no-nonsense contributions of Tamghart, Alex Wilkinson, Robinson and Hoyle, all of the Oldham bench, were a major factor in this Roughyeds win, while Tommy Goulden was a deserved winner of the Oldham man of the match award For the stand-out player on the Knights team you needed to look no further than loose-forward David March.
 
Goulden was extremely busy on attack and defence and he is now looking something like the forward who was always a fans' favourite when in Rochdale colours.
 
Scorers: Oldham -- goals, Nanyn (6); tries, Langley, Halliwell, Goulden, Tamghart, O'Connor, Nanyn; York -- goals, Mapals (5); tries, Grimshaw, Mapals, Divorty,  Ratcliffe.
 
Oldham:St Hilaire; Langley, Littler, Nanyn, O'Connor; Roden, Coy le; Boults, Joseph, Mervill, Goulden, Halliwell, Grundy. Subs: Hoyle, Robinson, Wilkinson, Tamghart.
 
York: Ratcliffe; Mapals, Oakes, Lewis, Leake; P March, Grimshaw; Buckley, Greenwood, Ekis, Applegarth, Kelly, D March, Subs: Danville, Grundy, Divorty, Woodcock.
 
Referee: Mr M Kidd (Castleford); Att: 1049.