Greens kick off with a win!

Wigton v Oldham 5/9/15

Wigton got their new league campaign under way with a 14-3 win over Oldham, but there were signs of new season rustiness and the Greens were made to work very hard by the visitors who were down to 14 men for most of the game.

As Oldham took the field it was evident that they were a bulky set of forwards who would look to dominate up front. In the early exchanges Wigton were trying to put pace on play and move the ball wide. However, for much of the match there was a lack of a clinical cutting edge.

In the early exchanges, some astute kicking by fly half and new skipper, David Hanabury, enabled Wigton to play in their opponents 22. A great catch and drive at the lineout took play right up to the line. However, when play was opened up, Ryan Clark on the wing was unable to hang onto Hanabury's long pass. From the resulting scrum, Oldham showed that they could be dangerous as they attacked from almost their own line. With the Wigton back three hanging deep,to cover the kicks, Oldham showed confidence and precision to exploit their numbers and centre Callum Megram broke to halfway, only for the ball to be lost.

Soon it was the visitors who opened the scoring. The home defence failed to deal with a long, raking kick and conceded a lineout only a few yards out. A throw to the back saw lively flanker Luke Roscoe make a determined run to the posts, resulting in Wigton conceding a penalty. Megram took the easy three points.

Soon Oldham were threatening again. Centre Phil Graham manufactured an excellent offload out of contact, releasing winger Max Horsfall and full back Charlie Roscoe to rampage threateningly into the Wigton half. The home defence was caught offside, but Megram was unable to convert a much more difficult second kick at goal.

Wigton were next to take the offensive when an inside pass from Hanabury saw centre Gregg Smith gallop through a gap deep into Oldham territory, very close to the line. Young winger Sam Harrison tried to break through the defence but he was stopped by a dangerous tackle by Charlie Roscoe who dumped the youngster on his head. Referee Denvir showed him the red card, a decision which met with little argument from the visitors. Harrison was soon on his feet and Roscoe seemed to make a genuine apology to him as he left the field.

Wigton used the penalty to set up a maul which was stopped on the line. The ball was moved through hands left and right without the defence looking troubled and a promising position was lost with a penalty conceded for holding on.

Wigton were soon back in the 22 when winger Johnny Charters put in an intelligent kick which he regathered with great skill. A penalty to the attackers ensued, followed by a catch and drive from a lineout which once again was halted perilously close to the try line. A Hanabury break created the next chance. The ball was moved to Clark and then to Charters who thought he was crossing the line for a try, only to be brought back for a forward pass.

As the whistle blew for halftime, despite being 3-0 down, Wigton would have been far from discouraged; they had created a number of chances and had the advantage in numbers.

Sure enough, Wigton were soon on the attack in the second period. A lineout was the platform from which several forward drives made good ground. The ball was then moved wide to Charters, but he lost the ball agonisingly close to the line. Very shortly afterwards Clark went almost as close on the opposite flank. A confident Wigton took a scrum when awarded a penalty. This seems a good way of making room for the backs to exploit. Unfortunately, Wigton failed to control the ball which shot out of the scrum and momentum was lost.

Oldham were defying expectation and rising to the defensive challenge. Perhaps the home side were a little complacent and thought a score was bound to come, but hard work and accuracy were still needed as a preliminary. The Oldham defenders were starting to relish the tackles and coach Iain McCorquodale, one-time Workington Town hero, handled his bench well, rotating his pack who stayed the course well. Midway through the half Oldham had a bit of possession and forced play into the Wigton half as the clock ticked away. A 3-0 win to the visitors did not look out of the question.

However, the Wigton backs finally started to show some confidence and ask question of the wide defence. Smith made a spectacular break and passed to Charters who held off the last defender to score a try which he converted, giving Wigton a 7-3 lead.

From the restart, Hanabury and Smith carved the defence open again and the home supporters were not pleased by the referee's detection of a forward pass.

It was a temporary respite for the Lancashire team. Smith was again the creator as he opens up the defence with a dummies switch pass. He drew the last defender before passing to his fellow centre Richard Moffatt who had a simple task to score. Charters converted and 14-3 looked like a winning lead in the context of the game.

However, Wigton now seemed happy to play time out rather than going for the jugular. Just when they seems to be on top of the defenders within their running, The home team reverted to a kicking game. Oldham showed determination to finish with a flourish as big men showed quick feet on more than one occasion. Luke Roscoe made a super break but frustratingly for him, his support runners overran the ball. Shortly afterwards a good chance was messed up when Oldham passed the ball into touch.

Wigton looked to finish strongly as a kick and chase had the defence under pressure. Hanabury thought he had claimed a turnover and was on his way to the line. Mr Denvir thought differently and penalised him for side entry.

Oldham had one last chance to register a try, but instead were penalised just short of the line in the last action of the game.

Coach Mark Lee will feel that there are plenty of encouraging points emerging from this game, but equally there were things to work on as well. The scrum went reasonably well in that we won most of our own ball and a couple against the head, but sometimes we were having to deal with the ball going backwards. The lineouts went pretty well with Richard Jackson picking up where he left off last season. Oldham seemed to often have a jumper spare at the back of the line, but did not always produce the accuracy needed to hit their man.

It was wonderful to see many old players from Wigton's cup winning teams gather for the occasion of the 50th anniversary of our first Cumberland Cup win. They voted for the Man of the Match, and it was no great shock when their choice fell on Gregg Smith.