South Lancs and Cheshire League Division Two North
Oldershaw 10, Oswestry Eagles 29
OSWESTRY followed up their convincing win over Crewe and Nantwich last weekend to register a 29-10 win at Oldershaw with Rob Massam once again proving his worth at centre.
Massam crossed the line twice in a violent encounter to help set up a victory which sees the Eagles maintain their fourth place league position with a game in hand, as head coach, Scott Sturdy praised his side's discipline and courage.
Oswestry now lie five points off second spot in the division, and a third straight win over mid-table Marple at Park Hall this weekend could see them cut the deficit and narrow the gap further on league leaders Crewe.
The Eagles started well as the Oswestry pack bullied their way toward the Oldershaw 22 before Jim Dilks broke from the ruck to feed Dan Samuels who stepped through the gap to cross the try line, despite two Oldershaw players trying their best to hold him up.
Andy Howell stepped up to add the extra two points but the game turned ugly as Oswestry's dominance in the scrum began to frustrate the home side who were guilty of throwing several punches which escaped the attention of the referee.
And their actions seemed to unsettle the Eagles who conceded a try in the corner with the conversion going astray.
Howell replied by kicking Oswestry down into the Oldershaw 22, but more underhand tactics from the home side led to several fights breaking out on the field, one of which resulted in prop, Mike Keavey having to leave the pitch for four stitches to a head wound.
Oswestry dominated the second quarter of the game however and after retaining the ball through several phases, Oldershaw conceded the penalty which Howell gratefully sent through the posts.
Top Eagles try scorer, Massam, then burst through the defence after good work from Kevin Evans, crashing over the line with Howell converting to take them into a 17-5 half-time lead.
Ten minutes into the second half and Oldershaw scored their second try of the day, but the missed conversion left them with plenty to do as they became encamped in the Eagles 22.
Dogged Oswestry defending twice held the Oldershaw No. 8 up over the line however, and once again the home side's frustrations boiled over in a loss of discipline which continued to mar the game.
But Oswestry retained their composure with Sam Wright, Thomas Thorpe and Samuels engineering good play from the breakdowns with Massam finding a top class finish to outdo the Oldershaw defence in the corner.
Howell missed what would have been an 18th straight conversion, be he made up for that when he added an extra two points following Thorpe's marauding try late on.
Oswestry kick off Saturday's home fixture with Marple at 3pm.