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Oldham Roughyeds 30 Keighley Cougars 28

Gavin Browne
28/ 7/2008

TWELVE-MAN Oldham overcame the dismissal of skipper Rob Roberts to record their 17th consecutive home victory.

A fractious encounter boiled over five minutes before the break when Roberts received his marching orders from referee Dave Merrick for an off-the-ball incident in which the Roughyeds captain apparently threw a punch.

Despite the numerical disadvantage and the searing heat at Boundary Park, Oldham held the upper hand for all but the last five minutes when the Cougars threatened to snatch victory.

The sides traded four tries in the opening 25 minutes with Oldham enjoying the upper hand in terms of territory.

Danny Halliwell gave them a sixth minute lead, only for Ryan Smith to cross in the left-hand corner three minutes later.

A darting run from Paul O'Connor re-established Oldham's advantage before Ollie Pursglove brought the Cougars level. With Oldham's Mick Nanyn and Keighley's Danny Jones converting both tries, the game stood at 12-12 with the half-hour approaching.

Oldham could have extended that advantage on four occasions during the first half, but each time refused to kick for goal from in front of the posts, instead electing to run for a try.

However commendable their adventure was, it threatened to blow up in their faces as they squandered possession and then saw Roberts dismissed.

Nevertheless, they were 18-12 in front by the break when James Coyle darted through a gap to score a try converted by Nanyn.

With a man advantage and playing down the hill, Keighley would have been favourites to recover and take the three points. For some reason though, they did not look capable of snatching the  points until the final five minutes when it was too late.

Both sides swapped second-half tries, Marcus St Hilaire scoring for Oldham and Andy Shickell for the visitors, Jones converting the latter and Gareth Langley doing likewise for Oldham, Nanyn having departed with a dead leg.

Phil Joseph's try and Langley's goal looked to have put the Roughyeds well clear at 30-18, only for Keighley to launch a stirring late fightback.

Smith and Jon Presley both went over, Jones landing a conversion, before the Cougars almost snatched it at the death, only for Smith to knock on two yards from the line.