ORUFC U16 v Eccles U16

The latest Blacksticks Group game saw Oldham U16’s entertain Eccles. The last time the two sides had played as a start of season friendly ended with a substantial victory in favour of Eccles so the home team had much to prove. The Oldham side was boosted by the recent registrations of no less than 5 new players. Matt Taylor, Steve Allen, George Vick, Archie Taylor and Sammy Ireland, all of whom were being given their chance on Debut to show what they could do. There were high expectations that these new lads would settle in and gel with the rest of the squad. I think that they did more than that on the day and all proved to be real assets to the team.

Oldham kicked off and made a good positive start seeing plenty of early ball. Both sides were working hard to make an early break through and for the home side Harry Aaronson made several good breaks down the wing only to be held up by a strong Eccles backline before he could put any points on the board. In fact the first 15 minutes were very even with no team managing to get on top. Oldham started to get a little loose in possession and Eccles were the first side to almost score but some great defensive work and a good clearing kick from Aaronson kept Oldham safe. Eventually the Eccles pressure paid off and, on 18 minutes, working the ball quickly through hands they managed to get over the line for a try. The conversion was narrowly missed to the left of the posts.
Not downhearted the Oldham side raised their game even further and really started to put pressure on the ball every time the away side tried to get their passing going. Connor Chadderton led by example with some crunching tackles and the Eccles side were starting to make mistakes. Unfortunately the Oldham team could not take full advantage of this and then proved themselves to be under some pressure as they made a few mistakes of their own, letting Eccles off the hook.
Eccles seemed to weather the storm and whilst the game was very even they looked the more dangerous in attack. Their efforts were finally rewarded again just before the half time whistle, when on 33 minutes working the ball well from a strong scrum they broke through to score under the posts. This time a straight forward kick was converted.
Oldham ended the half well with some strong driving and good work particularly from Charlie Maslen.

This unfortunately didn’t lead to a score and at half time the away side had a 12 point lead.

The second half saw a quick start from both sides but unfortunately this resulted in some indiscipline with both teams having players sent to the sin bin. The home side were still working hard and the game was again very even. Maslen and Chadderton were again stand out performers putting in some strong surging runs but the well drilled Eccles defence held firm. Both teams were looking for that telling pass that could result in a score and with Eccles beginning to get on top they looked the more likely. However whilst Eccles were pressing the attack in Oldhams 22, Archie Taylor stole an interception and broke through with a chance to run the full length of the field and score. Unfortunately he was just caught by the Eccles defender, and was tackled before he could make the try line. The away side cleared their lines well. Whilst Eccles looked a little more dangerous the home side were giving them no time whatsoever and the tackling was fantastic.

In the end a very even second half did not result in a score for either side and the game ended with a narrow Oldham u16s 0 v Eccles u16s 12 victory for the away side.

Whilst Oldham u16s suffered a loss there was much for the home side to be really pleased about and if this amount of effort and commitment can be applied in future matches the Oldham team should start to convert their game play into wins. Man of the match was a difficult choice after several good individual performances but was awarded to Sammy Ireland for an excellent all-round game.