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Rochdale Hornets 32 Oldham Roughyeds 46

26/ 3/2008

THE Roughyeds got their Co-operative National League Two season off to a winning start with a victory that proved harder than they might have expected.

Having gone 30-4 ahead at half-time, they collapsed in the second half but still did enough to deny the Hornets a bonus point at Spotland.

Having benefited from numerous penalties in the first half, Oldham took full advantage top open up a decisive lead.

Phil Joseph crossed twice with Neil Roden, Marcus St Hilaire and Craig Littler all going over for tries before the break.

A second try from St Hilaire saw the Roughyeds extend their lead to 34-4, shortly before both sides exchenged tries with Chris Spurr going over for Hornets and Alex Wilkinson doing likewise for Oldham.

However, that was the calm before the storm as Hornets suddenly began to find their feet.

They benefited from some indifferent defending to score tries through Wayne Corcoran, Ian Sinfield and Jimmy Elston as the Roughyeds started to appear anxious.

Fortunately, they managed to stop the slide as James Coyle broke through a large gap in the Rochdale defence for a try near to the posts.

The scoring was not done for the day though when Sinfield went over for his second try after Sam Butterworth had exposed the Oldham defence.

However, the Roughyeds managed to hold out for the three points and get their season off to a victorious start in the process.