Oldham 36 Keighley Cougars 14: Depleted Cougars suffer setback in promotion battle with Lions

Their frustrations spilled over when prop Andy Shickell was sin-binned early in the second half for slowing down an Oldham play-the-ball and hooker James Feather was sent off 10 minutes from the end for a high tackle on Oldham loose-forward Valu Bentley.

Cougars had first use of the ground’s significant slope, but Oldham dug deep defensively and took their chances when offered to them to lead 14-10 at half-time before taking control with the slope in their favour in the second period.

The home side took a 6-0 lead with a try by stand-off Neil Roden, which Carl Forber improved.

Cougars then hit back during their best spell of the game to go ahead 10-6 with tries by Will Cartledge and Jermaine Wray, the latter from dummy half close to the line on the back of five penalties in a row.

Chris Baines tacked on the goal points to the Wray try, but Oldham were to go back in front after Ryan Benjafield was penalised in possession, allegedly for lifting an elbow when driving the ball in.

The penalty put Roughyeds in the ascendancy and they were rewarded in the 32nd minute when referee Ronnie Laughton had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try after an incident on the Cougars line close to the corner flag.

Mark McCully looked a certain scorer when going for the corner on Neil Roden’s short ball, but he was taken out by a high tackle, resulting in the awarding of a try under the posts which Forber goaled.

In a free-flowing encounter Cougars went close at the other end when Jason Demetriou sent Jamie Shepherd heading for the line, but Oldham’s defence scrambled to hold him up over the line.

When Oldham countered, Cougars were penalised and warned for slowing down the play-the-ball and Forber added the two points with a long-range penalty goal.

The first try in the second half was always going to be important and it fell to Oldham when full-back Ben Heaton got on the end of a flowing, crossfield attack.

While Shickell was off the field, the home side added two more tries by Paul Noone and Mark Brocklehurst, both of which Forber converted to lead 30-10.

They then stretched their advantage to 36-10 with Heaton’s second try and the Forber goal before Cougars at least restored some pride with a try in the corner by James Hutchinson almost on the final hooter.

Oldham: Heaton; Brocklehurst, St Hilaire, McCully, Robinson; N Roden, Forber; Boults, M Roden, Stenchion, Noone, Bravo, Bentley. Substitutes: Clough, Sutton, Casey, Ward.

Keighley: Halley; Hutchinson, Normington, Lawton, Duffy; Jy-Mel Coleman, Smith; Shickell, Feather, Pursglove, Cartledge, Baines, Demetriou. Substitutes: Wray, Benjafield, Rawlins, Shepherd.

Referee: R Laughton (Barnsley).