Hoylake 36 - 26 Oldham

Hoylake surged to their first win of 2025 in a bruising basement battle at the Wirral estuary, punishing a reckless first-half display by visitors Oldham to prevail 36-26.

The hosts struck after ten minutes and never looked back as Oldham coughed up six consecutive penalties, prop Sean Carter eventually shown yellow for repeated infringements. Reduced to 14, the visitors lost a further man five minutes later when an off-the-ball flare-up left them with 13. Hoylake cashed in with three more tries before the break for a 26-0 lead.

Whatever was said in the away huddle at half-time worked. Josh Semple and Gareth Dawson injected pace off the bench and, within five minutes, Chris Shaw hacked through and out-sprinted the cover to finish. Nick Hackman, Jack Taylor and veteran Paul Wardle then hammered the gain line, setting up Louis Fitton after Tom Davies sliced through from centre. Jordan McEwan darted over from a quick tap and, with Alex Jobson landing two conversions, Oldham closed to 26-19.

Discipline betrayed them again. A late tackle and an offside allowed Hoylake a converted try and a penalty to stretch the margin to 36-19. Hackman claimed a late consolation, diving on McEwan’s cross-kick, and Jack Taylor almost added another only for the final pass to hit the deck as the whistle sounded.

Carter’s tireless shift earned him the man-of-the-match award, while Oldham left pondering a first 40 minutes that ultimately cost them the contest.

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