Oldham have a 12-point lead over Whitehaven at half time in the 1895 Cup first round clash.

Whitehaven were caught out early on in the game as Oldham ran in two quick tries but the visitors hit back and it looked as though there would be just be six points in it at the break but Oldham picked up a crucial final try at a key time.

Haven got off to the worst possible start as Oldham's Danny Langtree got over the line in the first minute to inflict a cruel blow. And with Paul Crook adding the extras the home side were on the up.

Soon it was 12-0 as Richie Hawkyard was the next man to get through the Haven defence and touch down, with Crook again converting after six minutes.

But then Haven took their chance to get back into the game as Jordan Burns capitalised on a loose ball and kicked it ahead where Jake Carter was the man who collected and sidestepped to cross the line. Jake Moore tagged on the extras and the deficit was cut back to six points.

The scoring then began to slow down and it wasn't until the 28th minute when Oldham managed to extend their lead as Matty Wilkinson spotted a gap and went over the try line, with Crook converting.

Haven got a crucial score six minutes before the break to peg back their hosts as Dion Aiye put in a quick offload to Conor Holliday and he stepped past Hawkyard to score, and added his own goal to bring the scoreline back to 18-12.

But before the hooter could sound for half time, Oldham had restored their 12 point advantage as winger Kyran Johnson skipped through the visiting defence to score under the posts.

Crook made no mistake from right in front of the posts and it was Oldham who go in at the break ahead, with Whitehaven knowing they have to chase the game in the second half.