KIRKBY had to face another stern test in league leaders Oldham and it was the organisation and fitness which proved to be the difference.

Kirkby, with Storey back at his preferred position of scrum-half, started brightly, forcing Oldham back with clever kicking.

Boosted by Steve Williams returning to the centre, Kirkby looked lively in the backs and had an early chance to open the scoring early on.

After good driving play from the forwards, quick ball would have given Kirkby a golden opportunity, but it was picked up at the back of the ruck and driven on again, which allowed Oldham to regroup and clear the danger.

Oldham twice had tries disallowed for forward passes, much to the delight of the home support, but they eventually scored despite good defence when lively play by the backs created space for a fine try, which went unconverted.

Back came Kirkby and solid recycling opened the way for Squires, who was cynically stopped after chipping through. Awarded a penalty, the visitors felt it should have been more but Mallaband made it count to cut the gap to 5-3.

The next 60 minutes belonged to Oldham, but determined defence, notably by the back row of Dowker, Shepherd and Holmes, kept Kirkby in the game as they competed well in the lineouts and scrums against bigger opposition.

Oldham camped in the Kirkby 22 but were denied in turn excellent tackling from Storey, Williams and Horsfall before receiving a penalty for killing ball at a ruck.

A fight began as the opposing scrum-half stamped on a Kirkby head, but Oldham slotted over the kick for an 8-3 lead.

A good break-out by Mallaband looked promising, but he ran out of support and was knocked into touch.

Oldham scored again when they sucked in the defence for a lock-forward to score a well-worked try. Another penalty was added before half time to extend the gap to 16-3 by the break.

Kirkby started the second half well, taking the game to the visitors with good running by Mallaband, Hadwin and Squires, but time and again they could not supply a final pass.

Good work by Robinson and Bainbridge in the forwards released Dowker on a long run, but again Oldham were first to the breakdown.

They league leaders were clearly rattled and resorted to a safety-first policy before another penalty extended their lead to 19-3 while Kirkby missed one near the posts when Mallaband sliced his kick.

Kirkby started to feel the pace as Oldham took control and added another penalty which bounced over off the post.

As Kirkby faded, Oldham scored two tries near the end to make the victory look easy, but they knew they had been in a tough game.

February 14, 2003 10:30