OLDHAM earned their fifth straight win in League One, thanks to a strong showing against Midlands in the final quarter of the game, though the win was by no means comfortable, writes Kasey Smith.

Hurricanes went toe-to-toe with big spenders Oldham for over an hour, which was all the more impressive considering they spent most of the game with a man down.

It looked as if the floodgates would open when Matty Welham was sent off after hacking down and leaving his studs on Danny Craven’s knee, after the stand-off’s last tackle kick.

But credit has to go to Midlands, who did everything in their power to disrupt Oldham’s play and, for large parts, it worked.

It was a scrappy performance from Sean Long’s men who often came up with errors in good ball territory, as well as several knock-ons from kick restarts.

Roughyeds opened the scoring on seven minutes and it was Mo Agoro, on his first game back in the side, who dived over in the corner but Jamie Ellis couldn’t convert.

The lead did not last long and Midlands were level when Callum McLelland dummied a pass to sneak through to score a try, which Jake Sweeting converted.

It took Oldham just over ten minutes to respond when the pacey Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e scored a try, which Ellis converted.

Minutes after Welham’s sending off, Agoro got Oldham’s third after exposing another gap on the right edge, but Ellis couldn’t convert.

Just before half-time, Lewis Peachey brushed off three weak Oldham tacklers to score, with Sweeting kicking another to reduce the deficit to just two points.

Early in the second half, Midlands were handed an invite when Oldham conceded a penalty and then knocked on; the result of which was an unconverted try in the left corner for Ryan Johnson.

Oldham’s response came through Laulu-Togaga’e who, from almost 20 metres out, collected the ball to run through the tiniest of gaps between two Hurricanes tacklers to score his second, which Ellis converted.

On the hour mark, Midlands looked as though they’d evened the scores when Johnson grounded in the left corner, but Joe Wardle did just enough to force him in touch.

Then Ellis added another two points after Oldham opted to kick for goal when they were awarded a penalty – an indication of how far Midlands ran the unbeaten Roughyeds. The game opened up for Oldham in the final quarter, helped by George Hirst who proved a real handful off the bench.

His try on 67 minutes, which Ellis converted, took the game beyond Midlands who conceded three tries in the final ten minutes.

A Craven dummy was enough to get Oldham’s sixth, which was not converted, and there was enough time for both Cian Tyrer and Craig Kopczak to score, with the extras added by Tyrer.

Despite what the final scoreline was, this was the closest Oldham have come to defeat so far this year – if they are to be crowned champions come September, they’ll have to do better than this.

Midlands: goals: Sweeting 2/3; tries, McLelland, Peachey, Johnson

Oldham: goals: Ellis 4/7, Tyrer 2/2; tries, Agoro x2, Laulu-Togaga’e x2, Hirst, Craven, Tyrer, Kopczak

Teams:

Midlands: Horner; Johnson, Oakes, M.Welham, Bass; Sweeting, McLelland; Kirby, Barcoe, Broadbent, L.Welham, Wilkinson, Hobson. Subs: Cullimore, Willis, Peachey, Brown.

Oldham: Laulu-Togaga’e; Agoro, Wardle, Turner, Tyrer; Craven, Ellis; Kopczak, Wildie, J. Chapelhow, Gallagher, Lawton, Taylor. Subs: Astley, T.Chapelhow, Farnworth, Hirst.

Ref: Tara Jones; HT: 12-14; Pens: 6-8; Att: 367