Patrick Ah Van hits career milestone as Super League loanee scores Rochdale hat-trick – League 1 round-up

James Gordon
Patrick Ah Van

Richard Long/News Images

Veteran winger Patrick Ah Van scored his 150th career try with a hat-trick in Oldham’s 36-16 win over Cornwall.

Ah Van, 35, added two conversions to help his side in to a 36-0 lead before a late rally by the visitors.

The former Samoa international has spent the past decade or so in the northern hemisphere, having played in the NRL with New Zealand Warriors.

He is best remembered for his spells at Widnes, where he scored 95 tries in 123 appearances, and has also played for Bradford and North Wales Crusaders, as well as time in France with VARL.

The try that brought up the milestone was the first of the afternoon from a scrum play on 11 minutes, and four minutes later he added a second.

Tries from Harvey Wilson and Gregg McNally stretched Oldham’s lead to 20-0 at half time and their dominance continued after the breal.

Ah Van added his hat-trick four minutes in to the second half, before George Hirst got over for his first Oldham try.

McNally added his second try but Cornwall went home with some pride, scoring 16 points in the final 20 minutes courtesy of tries from Harry Aaronson and Cameron Brown (2).

Speaking post-match on the Roughyeds Twitter account, Ah Van said: “It’s pretty good (to reach 150). I just give credit to all the boys I’ve played with, they made me look good and all I had to do was put the ball down.

“They do all the hard work and I just have to do my job.

“I used to kick a long time ago, and it all came back to me. I’ll leave it to him, he can have all that pressure!

“Been a while since I scored a hat-trick, I was quite happy, but I’m more happy with the result. Not the performance, the boys have got standards now and we’re all pretty disappointed with the performance, but happy with the result.

“All the boys have taken me in really well, Stu’s doing a really good job with me as I’m quite old now! So they’re looking after me.”

Elsewhere, Umyla Hanley marked his Rochdale debut with a hat-trick as they defeated winless North Wales Crusaders 32-18.

Hanley joined the Hornets on loan from Leigh last week and scored within 22 minutes of his first appearance, after they had fallen behind early. His second try shortly before half-time put them 16-8 to the good.

Crusaders hit back through Rob Massam before two for Lewis Else put Rochdale in control at 28-12.

Hanley added his hat-trick try with 10 minutes to play to earn Rochdale only their second win of the season.

Doncaster kept up the pressure on league leaders Dewsbury as they preserved their 100% record with a 46-6 win over Workington.

Loui McConnell and Jason Tali both crossed for two tries apiece to set the Dons up nicely for next week’s trip to the Rams.

A hat-trick for Hayden Freeman helped Midlands Hurricanes to a 38-20 victory over London Skolars, their second win of the season.

Midlands led 18-4 at half-time, but Skolars pegged them back to 24-20 early in the second half before the hosts pulled clear.

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League 1 results

  • Oldham 36-16 Cornwall
  • Doncaster 46-6 Workington
  • Midlands 38-20 London Skolars
  • Rochdale 32-18 North Wales
League 1 Cornwall RLFC