Injuries take toll on Elland

The Calderdale side not only lost 26-10 in Division One of the National Conference League but also had Joe Fradgley and David Battye taken to hospital.

Elland had won their opening game of the season the previous week against Underbank and their hopes of following up were lifted by a first minute try from Richard Crawshaw, after Oulton had knocked on Elland’s deep kick off.

Joe Nicholson converted.

A strong counter-attack by Oulton and some poor tackling allowed the home side to burst through for an unconverted try.

A spell of even play followed with defences on top. Fradgley then suffered a twisted knee and limped off to hospital.

Oulton appeared to knock on but play was allowed to continued and the resulting try put them in front.

A further score looked inevitable after Elland had been sold a dummy but Richard Crawshaw put in a try-saving tackle to give a half time score of 10-6.

Elland were holding their own against Oulton, relegated from the Premier Division last season, but had to face the slope in the second half.

A quick off-load from Jack Fairbank set up captain Tom Harnett for a 30 metre break and supporting fullback Karl Frankland scored wide out. The conversion was missed but Elland were level.

The game was the halted for 30 minutes due to Battye suffering a badly fractured arm. He left the pitch in an ambulance.

After the restart Elland were unable to find their stride. Although they came close to scoring on a couple of occasions, Oulton powered clear for an ultimately comfortable win.