 Hornets 58 Oldham 14
Which was nice!
Howzat!
Hornets rack-up cricket score as the Biffs wilt in the heat.
Hornets were, quite simply, superb. In stark contrast to the recent close-run derbys with Oldham, once Hornets had engaged top gear, we were unstoppable.
Damian Ball started the avalanche after 10 minutes, breaking the Oldham defence from deep in his own half and outpacing the whole of the chasing Roughyeds threequarter line to score from 70 metres.
On 15 minutes, Hornets stretched their lead - Garteth Price stepping and bumping off tacklers to score.
Oldham briefly rallied - a trademark sneak from Jihn Hough sending Brennan in by the posts. Barber converted to add to his earlier penalty for something or other to bring his side within touching distance at 12-8.
Hornets stamped on the gas and by the time the hooter ended the half, they were out of sight.
On the half hour Watson threaded an immaculate short pass around defenders for Smith to collect and score. But the next try... ah.. now that was something rather special.
Nanyn collected the ball on his own 20 metre line and the tacklers looked certain to bundle him into touch. Nanyn had other ideas and smuggled the ball out of the back to the supporting James Bunyan who blasted 30 metres through the Oldham defence . Looking left he found Matty Long in support, drew the Oldham full back and slotted long in under the posts from fully 40 metres. The main stand rose - superb stuff.
Half time 24-8. Oldham in tatters.
And Hornets fans didn?t have to wait long in the second half for the points to start coming. 49 minutes; Paul Smith dummying his way through for his second. 52 minutes; Paul Smith breaking the line and flicking an inch perfect inside pass to the supporting John Hamilton who capped a great performance with his second try in two games.
Just before the hour Oldham scored their consolation try - Dodd on the burst, Barber in support to score. But normal service was resumed within minutes as a Pachniuk break was finished in style by Gareth Price.
71 minutes; a blockbusting drive from Paul Southern - having his best game in a Hornets shirt - good hands from the big prop and Bally in support to bag his second.
Then - on 73 minutes - came the moment that, alone, was worth the admission money. Matty Long breaking the Oldham line from 40-odd metres; open field, just the full back to beat and three men in support. Long sized up his options, threw the most outrageous dummy, skipped round thre hapless Goddard and scored. Hornets' supporters could hardly cheer for laughing. Brilliant.
The win was sealed in the 80th minute as ex-Oldhamer Chris Irwin linked up from full back to stride in unopposed straight from a scrum. The way he celebrated, we guess he enjoyed making a point to Steve Molloy.
In the end, Hornets were way, way too good for an Oldham side that huffed and puffed and blew themselves out. Their pack was a massive second best all afternoon and, given that both Damian Ball and Matt Long pasted their backline for pace, it's back to the drawing board for Molloy and Hamilton.
Hally was delighted too, "Our ball control was the best it's been all season - but it's still only 70%, so we've plenty in the tank on that score."
But from our point of view, it was a perfect afternoon.
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