WORKINGTON Town coach Gary Charlton felt his side should have caused an upset in Monday’s clash with previously unbeaten Oldham at Sedgeley Park.

The Roughyeds just squeezed home 16-14 after establishing a 10-0 lead early in the game.

“People might think it’s good to have run the title favourites so close but I like to think we’ve moved on from that sort of situation and are capable of beating teams like that.

“I believe this was the case on Monday and we should have won it after getting so close. I don’t think some of our more prominent players put-up their hands when we needed them to.

“Both Martin (Oglanby) and I are very disappointed to have lost after getting ourselves back into the game,” he said.

Oldham coach Tony Benson was a relieved man afterwards but wasn’t slow to express his unhappiness with Workington’s relatively light workload.

The fact that it was only Town’s first game of the weekend, while Oldham doubled up after Good Friday’s tough 22-16 win at Hornets RL, grated with Benson.

“I am not sure how hard the RFL are thinking about it that Workington didn’t have to play on Friday,” he said, referring to Swinton’s successful request to rearrange their Good Friday home game with Workington for Sunday, June 20.

“They came here fresh and that is a huge advantage for them. We had a local derby — one of the most physical games of the year — on the Friday and then had to come up against a fresh side on Monday and that is not ideal.

“If anyone had said at the start of the year that we would play these two games in four days and get six points out of them, I would have been very surprised.

“I didn’t think a 10-0 lead was enough at half-time. It was a strong wind we were going into in the second half and Workington have got a great kicking game.

“They have a big pack as well and it tires you out. The boys were out on their feet but just kept going, so I can’t complain about that.”

How good for Town fans to hear then that they have a big pack to test the opposition – that was so often the complaint over the last two years that Workington weren’t big enough in the forwards.

For much of the second half it was one-way traffic as Town had the strong wind pushing them on.

Had scrum-half Scott Kaighan landed a conversion to his side’s second try, Workington would have held a 12-10 lead in the game’s final quarter – and, quite possibly, obtained the psychological edge.

As it was, Kaighan pulled his effort from a fairly central position narrowly wide of the uprights.

From there, with the game level Oldham summoned enough energy to go against the elements and when prop forward Dave Ellison produced a powerful burst it gave them a good attacking position.

Neil Roden put in a little kick to the corner which was pounced on by Mick Fogerty to grab his second try on 67 minutes which Matty Ashe converted.

It gave the Roughyeds a decisive advantage, and Neil Frazer’s try in the right corner with two minutes left was not enough for the Cumbrians.

Oldham had started at a strong pace which briefly threatened to blow Workington away.

A big hit from hooker Martin Roden dislodged the ball from the grasp of prop forward Kris Coward and Oldham scored from the resultant scrum. The ball was moved smartly to the right where winger Lucas Onyango used his pace to surge through the line and open the scoring.

Soon afterwards the home side scored againwhile Town were down to 12 men with Liam Finch in the sin bin. Fogerty spun out of a tackle from close range to get the ball down and Ashe added the conversion.

But the home team gradually seemed to lose their way although Brett Carter did brilliantly to hold-up Joe Chandler over the line and Workington were relieved to hear the half-time hooter.

Workington came out fired-up and took the game to Oldham. Kaighan sliced through a gap just before the hour after a good weaving run from Aaron Low and it took only three minutes for another score to arrive after Kaighan’s sole conversion.

Skipper Mike Whitehead burst onto Finch’s pass and extended an arm over the line to touchdown as he was tackled.
Kaighan really should have added the conversion an was made to pay when Fogerty responded with the crucial try for Oldham, converted by Ashe.

There could have been tries or both teams after that. Low was held up over the line at one end and Paul O’Connor dropped the ball in the act of scoring at the other.

Then came Frazer’s late effort, which wasn’t enough for unlucky Workington.

Workington: Carter; Backhouse, Beattie, Low, Frazer; Finch, Kaighan; Dutton, Pedley, Coward, Whitehead, McKenna, Coupar. Subs (all used): Marshall, Wilson, McGoff, Butler.

Referee: Tim Roby (Lancashire)

Attendance: 658

The picture by DAVE MURGATROYD features two of the try scorers in a tackle - Town's Neil Frazer and Oldham's Mick Fogerty.

---

Bookmark with: what are these?