After a superb nip and tuck game between Dewsbury Rams and Batley Bulldogs saw the Bulldogs emerge with the two points to put them up to third, attention switched to the bottom half of the table when Oldham Roughyeds took on Swinton Lions in the fifth game of the Blackpool Summer Bash.

A win for Oldham would see them overtake Swinton and grab ninth spot but a win for Swinton, would see them go above Sheffield Eagles into seventh spot in the Kingstone Press Championship.

This was the first Summer Bash for both teams, having both been promoted to the Championship at the end of last season.

The first try of the game came after eight minutes when Tyler Dickinson passed to Kenny Hughes who went five metres before being dragged over the line on his back but as the mass of players went to ground he managed to twist and ground the ball. Lewis Palfrey added the extras and the Roughyeds were 6-0 up.

On eleven Danny Langtree doubled the Oldham lead with a strong push to the line after Swinton's Barlow had conceded a penalty for a high tackle. Once again Palfrey kicked the extras and it was a perfect start for Oldham.

On twenty-one Lewis Palfrey should have scored a walk in but somehow Liam Marshall managed to get himself under the ball to prevent a certain Oldham try.

A Palfrey penalty kick on thirty-five extended the lead a ended a tense scoreless period which had seen both sides go close with good periods of attack, thwarted by determined defences.

Two minutes later and Oldham grabbed their third try of the afternoon when Adam Files went from acting half back, splitting the two tacklers, to ground. The referee checked with the video referee who saw enough evidence to overturn the initial 'NO TRY' decision. Palfrey added the extra two and Oldham took a twenty point lead into the interval after keeping their opponents pointless.

Ninety seconds into the second half and the best start possible for Swinton when Macauley Hallett took a Chris Atkin pass to push off two defenders and stretch to ground. Atkin added the goal for 6-20.

Just two minutes later and a miss-out Matty Beharrell pass found Chris Atkin to push over the line. Atkin converted his own try and got his side within eight of a shell-shocked Oldham. This looked like a different Swinton Lions side to the one who'd remained scoreless in the first half.

Oldham held Swinton out for the next twenty minutes but on sixty-three Rhodri Lloyd went over off a Beharrell pass to score on his knees. Atkins kicked the extras for 20-18 and it was game on, the result in the balance but momentum on Swinton's side.

Eleven minutes from time and Swinton took the lead for the first time. Matty Beharrell put in an up-and-under which took a cruel bounce for the Oldham defence allowing Beharrell to collect his own kick under the posts and ground under the sticks. Atkins converted for 24-20, the Swinton fightback complete.

On seventy five a great run by Michael Ward saw him brush off a tackler and find full back Adam Clay to score in the right corner. The Palfrey conversion was controversially waved down by the touch judges and the scores were tied at 24-24.

Matty Beharrell kicked a one-pointer with ninety seconds left on the clock to crown a man of the match performance and take the points for Swinton Lions which see them lifted above Sheffield Eagles into seventh spot thanks to a sensational second half performance.
This was the archetypal game of two halves with Oldham totally dominating the first half and Swinton bossing the second. The controversial denial of the final Oldham conversion will cause mush post-match discussion but it was Swinton who kept their nerve and kicked the all-important drop goal for a 25-24 win, a result which no-one would have called at half-time.

A terrific advert for the Championship.

Roughyeds: Clay (T), Johnson, Gee, Holmes, Palfrey (4G), Owen, Spencer J, Spencer T, Hughes (T), Dickinson, Middlehurst, Langtree (T), Hope. Subs: Files (T), Ward, Burke, Thompson.

Lions: Atkin (T, 4G), Robinson, Littler, Hallet (T), White, Nicholson, Dwyer, Austin, Marshall, Barlow, Lloyd (T), Fleming, Beharrell (T, DG). Subs: Thornley, Lever, Bracek, TBC.

Referee: Warren Turley.

Attendance: