ORUFC U16 v Leigh U16

This week saw Oldham U16 playing their next round of the Blacksticks Challenge games looking to bounce back from a disappointing result againt Tyledsely in the last round.

Leigh kicked off and made a good start to the game pushing the Oldham team. They were making all the early running and putting the home side under pressure with several early scrums in good positions. Their pressure forced a penalty and using the ball well with the full width of the pitch they went over for the first try of the game. Oldham pushed on from the restart with good work from Connor Chadderton and they gained a good offensive line out close to the Leigh try line. A short line out was taken and Elliot Foley surged forward narrowly being taken into touch before he could score. Leigh cleared their lines and for the next few minutes the game was all being played in the Oldham half. The home team were working hard but they lacked a little bit of discipline and too many off-side decisions were giving the Leigh side good field position. Oldham lost a scrum deep in their half and Leigh made them pay with their second score of the day. The kick was also converted. To their credit the Oldham team were not disheartened and continued to push on, Chadderton and Foley leading the way but with committed assistance from Greg Antonio and some strong work by Joe Kershaw. This finally gave some result with Aidan Pass breaking down the centre of the field and having managed to skip through several attempted tackles he ran through to score beneath the posts. He converted the kick also.

The game looked pretty even at this stage but the home team lapsed for the final few minutes of the half with too many missed tackles allowing the away side to score a further converted try.

Half time: Oldham 7 v Leigh 19

Oldham started the second period well but Leigh were showing some good strength to keep them at bay. Pass, Brad Hicks and Caylum Kay all showed promising signs of breaking through the Leigh defence but it was the away side who took their first chance of the half extending their lead further.
The game entered another even period with both sides doing well. Oldham were using the ball much better and finally managed to get the ball wide to Harry Aaronson who outpaced everyone running from his own half to score for the home side underneath the posts. The kick was easily converted.
To the frustration of the home fans Oldham didn’t push on from this and the game became a bit disjointed with both side making mistakes and the rugby was pretty poor.
Leigh were able to score one further try as the game came to a close and the Home side were disappointed that the score line looks more one sided than the game actually was.

Final Score: Oldham u16 14 v Leigh u16 29

Some really good rugby played by both sides today, just a shame that the game broke down in the last 15 mins. Rugby is about discipline and if Oldham u16s can learn to focus a little bit more and stick to their game plans then they will be winning matches like this.
Overall a good team performance by Oldham despite losing. Man of the Match on the day went to Aidan Pass.