Oldhamm U15s made the journey accross to Widness for this return fixture having played them earlier in the season in what was quite a tight match. Expectations were high for a good game and some continued development from the Oldham Lads.

Oldham kicked off for the start of the match and the ball was taken well and returned deep into the Oldham half putting immediate pressure on their defence. The home team managed to steal the line out ball passed the ball quickly through their attacking line and went over for the first try of the game which was well converted. It was obvious from these early stages that Oldham would have to be on the very top of their game to get any success and that the home team were well drilled. Unfortunately the Oldham side could not cope with the speed of the home side who used their wing players to great effect putting over several more scores. The Oldham forwards – particularly Greg Antonio and Captain Elliot Foley - worked well and tried to make ground whenever possible but they always found themselves overpowered. Fly Half Mike Booth tried to move the ball through hands when in the middle of the park but Oldham never secured good enough possession to maximise any attacking play and the home team mixed up the game well keeping the ball tight between hands when the space allowed as well as kicking for good field position when needed. Some fast footwork from Tom Fitton allowed him to charge down a couple of kicks but unfortunately the ball was always secured again by the home side who maximised every opportunity to score.

By half time the home side had put 48 points on the board without reply and the Oldham team were looking well out classed.

The second half started better for Oldham who were much more aggressive in everything that they did and moved the ball much better. Again Foley and Antonio were putting in some good drives forward and Alex Kurkiewicz was looking to break from deep when he could, all round the team looked much more into things. Booth continued to use the ball well when he could, Caylum Kay was putting in some strong tackles, and Corey Byrne made one really promising run that just lacked the support needed to carry things forward. Oldham started to use some better tactics and Connor Chadderton kicked a few useful balls deep into the home teams half which had them scrambling to clear for touch. Oldham had a couple of occasions when they looked like they may score with pressure right on the Widnes try line but just didn’t manage to get the ball over for the points.

The final score was 67 – 0 to the home side but in restricting a very good Widnes team to just 3 second half scores showed the type of aggression and effort the Oldham team will need as they strive to improve.

Several good individual performances despite the score-line but still a lot of work to do for the players and coaching staff. Some strong tackling by Joe Kershaw and tireless work in the Scrums from Heath Fletcher and Billy Cloran but overall Oldham’s Man of the Match went to Mike Booth for his excellent performance at Fly Half.