Oldham 17 – 17 Didsbury Toc H

Didsbury were forced into a re-shuffle in the backline, with the absence of Tom Makin seeing North-esque winger Dave Hoare move to the outside centre birth. The Toc H squad was also without combative backrower Dave Foster.

From the early encounters it was clear that Didsbury could create chances out wide, with Dave Hoare attracting defenders to him, allowing space for the hard running Enita Okidiko on the left wing. But Oldham were able to shackle Okidiko early on, and it was the home side who scored first with some neat handling setting a player free to dive over from close range. The conversion was missed, and conceding the score spurred Toc into a more determined period of play. With the pack working hard to get the upper hand in the setpieces, and a number of telling driving mauls, Didsbury started to have the majority of possession and territory. From a good scrum by the visitors, Okidiko picked a fine line to crash over for a try by the sticks. Jamie Peacock added the extras, giving Didsbury a 5-7 lead. Didsbury soon returned to Oldham’s 22 with a penalty kick to the corner by Gaz Oakley. But with the throw-in lost to Oldham they looked to clear their lines, but the ever alert Aidan Murphy was on hand to charge the kick down and instantly gather the ball to force his way over for a try. Peacock again added the extras, and Didsbury took a lead of 14-5 into the half time break.

Oldham restarted the game with a clear plan to pick and drive their way down field, a tactic that the visitors dealt with successfully. But with a man sent to the sin-bin the home side managed to work enough space to score their second try, and with the conversion sailing over the gap was closed to 12-14. Didsbury added a Peacock penalty to take the score to 12-17. Didsbury had more chances to extend their lead, with Murphy stopped just short of the line, Christian Hemmant just putting his foot in touch has he scorched down the wing heading for the tryline, and a Peacock penalty drifting agonising wide. With the game deep into stoppage time, and after a sustained period of Oldham pressure, with the referee awarding the home side umpteen (in this reporters eyes ‘harsh’) penalties, and a suspicion of a knock-on, Oldham forced their way over for a try to level the scores. With a conversion kick to win the game, the ball flew wide and the points were shared 17-17.

This was one of Didsbury’s better performances this season, against an Oldham side who have performed well this season and played their part in a good encounter on Saturday. There were a number of top performers for Didsbury, with captain Mike Hyde making double figure tackles, the backrow (Murphy, Harrison, Josh Seddon) putting in some sterling work. And the whole backline defending as one for the entire match, with every player making the one-on-one tackles.

Next Saturday Didsbury welcome Hutton to Ford Lane – 3pm kick off.