FOUR tries in the last 20 minutes secured the points for Oldham as they ended their run of five away games with a 28-4 win over Workington, writes Kasey Smith.

Despite the considerable scoreline - which would have been a lot higher had it not been for four missed conversions - for the best part of an hour, Anthony Murray’s men were in the contest with little to separate the two sides.

But as Town started to tire, Oldham pounced when they scored two quick tries just after 60 minutes as they started to break through the Workington line.

Both sides had chances early on but neither defence was budging, that was until Ben O’Keefe pounced on a loose pass and ran from inside his own half to ground in the left corner, but Logan Astley missed the kick.

There were plenty of early kicks from the Town halves – perhaps understandable given Oldham have struggled under high balls – but full-back Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e dealt with them well.

It was a fairly stop-start first forty with both sides guilty of unforced errors, but Roughyeds got a crucial try just before half-time to double their score.

After a Tommy Brierley deliberate knock-on to intercept an Astley pass and deny an Oldham try, it was Danny Craven who went over direct from the scrum – after producing a show-and-go which has proved fruitful for Craven so often this year – but Astley couldn’t add the two.

In the second half, Town had an early chance when Jake Bradley intercepted a pass and threatened to go the length of the field to score, but he didn’t have the legs and Astley duly wrapped him up.

Then, there was some slick, quick passing from Astley and PLT which allowed Nathan Roebuck the space for a second try in as many games, with Cian Tyrer missing the kick this time.

After a strong Workington set, Oldham were struggling to make metres until Jack Johnson forced his way through a gap to break the line and offload to Astley who scored under the posts for a try which Tyrer converted.

Shortly after, Oldham scored again when a delayed pass out left by Ben O’Keefe allowed Tyrer to score in the corner, but the winger failed to convert.

Ten minutes from time, Ben O’Keefe got another try after he held onto a Laulu-Togaga’e pass which was fired into him from close range to wrap up the win for Oldham as Tyrer kicked his second conversion.

Battling Workington finally got a try on 77 minutes when Chris Taylor evaded several tacklers to offload to Richard Lepori who scored in the corner, but kicker Ciaran Walker was unable to add any more points after missing the conversion.

Despite another defeat, their fifth in a row, Town will take heart from the performance, having been in the contest for so long while Roughyeds will be pleased with their defensive efforts going into a crucial run of three home games including Hunslet, North Wales and Keighley.

Newcastle - goals: Walker 0/1; tries: Lepori

Oldham - goals: Astley 0/2, Tyrer 2/4; tries: O’Keefe x2, Craven, Roebuck, Astley, Tyrer

TEAMS: Workington: Galea; Lepori, Taylor, Bickerdike, Brierley; Walker, Forber; Key, Saunders, Scholey, Stephenson, Bradley, Henson

Subs: Brennan, Reid, Tongia, Walton

Oldham: Laulu-Togaga’e; Johnson, Roebuck, O’Keefe, Tyrer; Craven, Astley; Farnworth, Wildie, Chapelhow, Hirst, Taylor, Moran.

Subs: Aldridge, Wardle, T.Chapelhow, Kopczak

Ref: Nick Bennett; HT: 0-8; Pens: 3-4