ORUFC U15 v Bolton U15

On a perfect day for Rugby, Oldham travelled to Bolton with many players missing from key positions. Both props, scrum half, second row and centre were away and injured, so careful squad planning had to be taken into consideration. But like all good sides, it takes a great side to change, adapt and deliver.
Oldham started and defended well, it was Oscar Cheetham who led the way forward with some trade mark big tackles. This sparked the tempo in defence, with Oldham’s trade ‘red wall’ meeting anything Bolton through at them. But it was the home side, which showed the visitors a lesson in ruck play and retaining the ball in Oldham’s half of the field. When Oldham had the ball in hand, they showed the attacking quality they have had all season. Adam Berry at scrum half kept the ball moving from the base of the rucks, and with half back partner Robert Charles bringing both centres into play, Josh Jones-Dean and Ben Bennett, Oldham looked threatening. Credit the defence of Bolton, it was strong, and it was going to be something special that broke them down. On the 12th minute, deep in the Oldham half, after forcing a knock on, it was the visitors who were awarded a scrum. As Berry picked the ball from the base of the scrum, he fed Charles who arched the ball left and took the defence on and isolated the centre and winger, a short ball found Jones-Dean who showed explosive power and pace to accelerate down field. As Bolton chased back, the fullback tried in vain to bring down the rampaging centre, who showed great strength and footwork to touch down under the posts. An easy conversion for Charles put the visitors ahead 0-7.
Oldham had their tails up, but to their credit Bolton upped the ante in the tackling department, and when they had the ball, pressured fullback Jay Taylor with some deep and telling kicks. However, the fullback showed great maturity in positioning and running every ball back with a huge gain every time. Zac Booth, Matt Powell, Baden Brummell and Josh Molloy worked their socks off in defence, and in the ruck area, but Oldham were sometimes a little too slow in engaging the ruck when in possession, this resulted in turning the ball over too many times. It was that man Jay Taylor who scored Oldham second try after 25 minutes when the fullback showed great vision and pace to cut across field, take the defence on and straighten up to score wide on the right. In build up, it was great pressure from Oldham after a good kick by Charles put pressure on the fullback to take the ball cleanly, he didn’t and spilled the ball to which Taylor scooped up and scored. The conversion missed, Oldham extended their lead to 0-12.
Up to half time, Oldham withstood a lot of Bolton pressure, and a lot of scrappy rucks. But the ‘red wall’ was outstanding with some great defence from Brummell, Hassan, Whittaker and Sam Taylor. Bolton got close, but the defence was more than equal to what was being thrown at it. A great tackle by Charles and Bennett put the defender over the touchline for a line out. From the resulting lineout, Oldham won the ball, and from the ruck, Oldham again were slow to react, and with the ball on the try line, all it took was a Bolton hand on it to register the score. And that the home side did. The conversion good, the referee blew to end the half 7-12 in Oldham’s favour.
At half time, the talk was about working hard for each other, and getting down to every breakdown. Using the speed of hands and feet to get us where we need to be. With the wealth of subs, changes were again made, throwing the shape out a little. But it’s these challenges that gel a team.
As the second half started, it was Oldham who attacked the Bolton line through Cheetham, Berry and Jones-Dean, with Oldham trying to increase their lead. But again, slow play around the ruck gifted Bolton possession. As the hosts came forward, it was Charles who intercepted the ball and raced 20m downfield, ankle tapped by the centre, Charles fed the supporting players who then fed Bennett on the right. As the centre came across the field avoiding the defence, the centre found he had a four man overlap, instead of the using the support, he showed great strength to touchdown over the line for a great try wide on the left. With Charles resuming kicking duties the fly half nailed the conversion to extend Oldhams lead to 7-19.
Bolton never gave up, and pressured Oldham into a mistake inside the vistors 20m. From the scrum, a perfect ball to Charles saw the player knock the ball on, gifting the ball to Bolton. Like a bulldozer, the Bolton forward came forward, and despite some strong, goal line defence, Oldham conceded a try on the third phase.The conversion missed, the score was 12-19 to Oldham.
It was Oldham who could of extended the lead further when Bennet released Aaron Gray on the right, but a great ball was spilled with open space in front of the fleet footed winger. However, moments later, the same play resulted in Gray taking the ball at full tilt, and the winger showed blistering pace and footwork to race 60m down field, holding of oncoming traffic to touch down wide on right for a great try. Charles added the extras to take the score 12-26 with 7 minutes to go.
The last few minutes felt like an eternity, and Oldham defended well, and after conceding two penalties and a scrum, Oldhams backs were against the wall. However, on the last play of the game, poor defence around the ruck, saw a Bolton player peel off an touch down wide on Oldham’s left. The conversion good, the final score was 19-26 to Oldham.

All in all, plenty of positives to take from the game, but still plenty of work to do before the Quarter Final against Rochdale. The hard work in ernest starts here, and the coaching team will be naming a 20 man team nearer the time to take on our near neigbours.

Tries:- Jones-Dean, Jay Taylor, Bennett & Gray
Goals:- Charles 3/3, Bennettt 0/1

Team:- Jay Taylor, Aaron Gray, Josh Jones-Dean, Ben Bennett, Connor Widdop, Rob Charles, Adam Berry, Baden Brummell, Leon Whittaker, Hamza Hassan, Oscar Cheetham, Matt Powell, Zac Booth, Sam Taylor, Josh Molloy SUBS James Slater, Joe Cooke, Logan Korny & Liam McClean

Man Of The Match:- Jay Taylor