A large group of Oldham supporters, mostly of the ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ vintage made the trip in memory of Brian Stanley Smith, a stalwart of their club, who passed away last year. Sporting ‘Tom Selleck’ style Zapata moustaches they enjoyed the pre match banter and were vociferous on the touchline in support of their team. A minute’s silence was observed prior to kick off.

Oldham kicked off with the wind behind them and were soon on the attack. Dogged defending by Fleetwood kept Oldham out, and they began to work their way upfield with some excellent phases of play. Both sides were guilty of not holding onto the ball and the game lost its fluidity. Oldham used the wind to pen Fleetwood back onto their own try line and after Jamie Moran was given a 10 minute rest by the referee a high tackle on the Fleetwood line resulted in a penalty try being awarded to the visitors. 0-7. The last 10 minutes of the first half saw Fleetwood start to get some good field position. From this they were awarded a couple of penalties which Jamie Mayall converted to make the score 6-7 at half time.

The second half saw a changed Fleetwood. Using the wind well they ran the ball at the opposition and created the space for the mercurial Tom Evans to slice through the opposition for a characteristic try converted by the ever reliable Jamie Mayall. 13-7. A further penalty by Mayall increased the lead before an excellent reverse pass from scrum half James Doherty put Ricky Newton in from a couple of yards. Ricky barrelled over and celebrated in some style. Jaime’s only blemish on a great kicking display saw the ball rebound from the post . 21-7. Oldham fought back with an unconverted try of their own but the final score was 21-12 to Fleetwood. A hard fought win against tough opposition.

The game was sponsored by our friends from Fleetwood Cricket club who after a close vote gave the Man of the Match to James Doherty. It must have been a close call between James and the ever reliable Mike Kelly but in reality everyone played well.

Next week it is back to Manchester to take on our friends from Aldwinians.

Match report from Steve Doherty