Rugby hero plays on with broken jaw

LATCHFORD Albion second rower Adam Wood suffered a broken jaw in two places in a dour struggle at Oldham St Annes – but played on.
The injury occurred in the 50th minute but Wood played on apparently unaffected and was still on the field at the close
Unfortunately his brave effort was to no avail as Latchford squandered a 12 point advantage when a 73rd minute try secured a 17-14victory for the determined home side side in a tense division one clash.
In a defence orientated game, it took 25 minutes for the scoreboard to be troubled, and it was Latchford who took the lead when they ran the ball on the last tackle and Sam Dobson sold the home defence an audacious dummy before racing under the posts, Alex Davies adding the conversion.
This proved to be the only score of the half leaving Latchford 6-0 ahead at the break.
Albion started the second half strongly with the forwards starting to make valuable inroads into the St Annes defence and, following a quick play of the ball, Chris Griffiths’ short pass allowed Fraser Jones-Lake to barge through the home defence and score to extend Albion’s advantage, Davies again adding the extras.
From the resulting restart, a Latchford error gifted possession and field position to the hosts, who spread the ball out wide and found space to cross in the corner to register their first points of the afternoon.
The try saw a shift in the momentum of the game and within minutes a second try saw St Annes reduce the deficit to 10-12 at the hour mark.
An Alex Davies penalty goal on 65 minutes nudged Latchford further ahead, but the hosts lay siege to the Albion defence and they were rewarded when a converted try handed them the lead for the first time in the game going into the closing stages.
A late drop goal sealed the victory for the home side thwarting any attempt of a comeback from Albion.
This Saturday Albion travel to Premier division side Haydock in the NWML Cup, kick off 2.30pm