» May 20th 2001
» Town 18 : 24 Oldham

This was the first of a series of three hard matches in the space of a week against some of the best teams in the NFP. Town would have their work cut out against today's opponents who are currently holding on to second position.

Town started well and took an early lead before a 14-minute spell had Oldham dominate and build up a lead that would take them into the halftime break on 24 - 8. In a second half fight back Town clawed their way back into the match and controlled the majority of the second half, but several handling errors left them unable to overhaul the home team.

The day started well for Town and after kicking off they enjoyed the early possession. The Town forwards were running strong. Tane Manihera was outstanding, controlling the game with his creative running and clever passing moves.

Town scored the first points of the day in the 6th minute. They had regained the possession after picking up the loose ball when Oldham had knocked-on. The ball was used well and Town were quickly on the attack, the home defence were caught offside. Manihera elected to kick the penalty and floated the ball between the posts to put the visitors into an early lead.

Both sides were using their forwards to gain the advantage and hoisting the high kick to try and force the errors from the defending team. Manihera put in a grubber kick on the last tackle in the 9th minute. Mark Sibson collected the bouncing ball and was able to scramble over the line to prevent the dropout.

The 11th minutes saw some good creative work from Town. Graeme Lewthwaite and Lynton Stott made telling breaks deep into the Oldham half before a forward pass gave possession back to them.

Kevin Hetherington extended the Town lead after 14 minutes. He collected the ball inside his own half and broke through the defensive line. He sped 60 metres down the line and used the hand-off to push away two would be tacklers before scoring in the corner. Manihera added an excellent touchline conversion to move Town into an eight point to nil lead.

Town were on the attack again in the 18th minute; the tackle count had been wiped out after a knock-on they were close to the Oldham line again. Matthew Tunstall took in the ball but was punished by Mr Kirkpatrick for lashing out while trying to get to his feet to play the ball. This was to prove to be the turning point of the half.

Oldham had the possession and good work placed them into the Town half very quickly. On the last tackle Mike Ford put up a high towering kick into the right-hand corner. Jonathan Heaney seemed to have the ball covered, but Pat Rich had made up the ground and challenged for the ball. The ball went loose and Mark Sibson collected the loose ball and scored. Town complained that the ball had been knocked on, but Mr Kirkpatrick just waved away their appeal. Pat Rich was successful with the conversion to reduce the Town lead to 6 - 8.

From the restart Lynton Stott put the ball out on the full. Oldham had the ball on halfway and used their forwards to gain field advantage. Again Oldham elected to use the high kick on the last tackle. Mike Ford hoisted up the bomb and the Oldham hooker Keith Brennan collected the ball unchallenged to score close to the posts. Again Mr Kirkpatrick ignored the appeals for offside. Pat Rich easily slotted over the conversion to put Oldham into the lead.

Town tried to fight back and Manihera's kicking game was used to great effect in the 24th minute. He put in a great kick and good chase and tackle by Hetherington kept Oldham pinned deep in their own half.

Oldham extended their lead after 28 minutes. Again Mike Ford had a hand in the try. The player-coach created the gap with a beautifully timed pass and sent Bryan Henare bursting through on the break. The second-rower pulled in the Town defence and passed out wide to the supporting Daryl Lacey who cut inside and raced for the line. Lynton Stott tackled the winger on the line, but the momentum carried him over to score. Pat Rich was again successful with the conversion to move Oldham into an 18 - 8 lead.

In the 33rd minute, Oldham further extended their lead. Missed tackles from Town saw Oldham close to the Town line. Again Oldham used the kick, this time a short chip into the Town in-goal area. The Town defence failed to ground the ball and Mark Sibson again dropped onto the loose ball to score. Pat Rich added the conversion.

Town thought they had reduced the arrears in the 35th minute. From the kick-off Oldham knocked-on and Town had possession inside their opponents half. Anthony Samuel ran along the line and drew in the defence before passing out to Hetherington, missing out a Town attacker with a well-timed pass. Hetherington went in unchallenged to score, but Mr Kirkpatrick deemed that there had been a crossing incident in the movement and disallowed the try.

Opening second half, Town came out to attack from the start. Lynton Stott came into the attacking line and made a good break. The ball was swung out to Graeme Lewthwaite who burst down the line, but he was tackle into touch by Neil Roden just short of the Oldham line.

Graeme Lewthwaite did manage to score after 49 minutes. Oldham were punished for offside and Town were soon again deep into the Oldham half. Lee Allen and Tane Manihera linked to create the space for Lewthwaite who powered through to score in the corner despite the attentions of several Oldham defenders. Manihera missed with the touchline conversion attempt.

A head injury forced Lewthwaite to temporarily leave the field for treatment. The winger went off with blood gushing from a deep cut. Graeme was soon back into the game after having the cut stitched and returned wearing a scrumcap to prevent further injury.

Town were starting to control the game. Their defence was solid and only handling errors prevented them from adding to the score on several occasions. Carl Sice went in to score after 60 minutes. It was a typical run from dummy half from the hooker. He jinked around the defence from the play of the ball and went into score close to the posts. Manihera added the conversion to reduce the Oldham lead to 24 - 18.

The last 20 minutes saw Oldham miss with two attempted drop-goal attempts. Town failed to add to the score after several good moves broke down very early in the tackle count due to handling errors. Kevin Hetherington did cross the line, but he was pulled back for a forward pass.

It had been a good second half fight back from Town, but they were just unable to grab the vital score in the last quarter of the game to get the result.

Teams
Town: Lynton Stott, Jonathan Heaney, Neil Frazer, Kevin Hetherington, Graeme Lewthwaite, Tane Manihera, Lee Allen, Matthew Tunstall, Owen Williamson, Hitro Okesene, Stuart Hoyles, Matt Sturm, Anthony Samuel
Subs: Steve Wood, Lokeni Savelio, Carl Sice, Matthew Woodcock

Oldham: Mark Sibson, Joe McNicholas, Anthony Gibbons, Pat Rich, Daryl Lacey, Neil Roden, Mike Ford, Jason Clegg, Keith Brennan, Paul Norton, Phil Farrell, Bryan Henare, Kevin Mannion
Subs: John Hough, Ian Sinfield, Danny Guest, Chris Farrell

Attendance: 1,276

Referee: Mr Karl Kirkpatrick (Warrington)