SOUTH Wales Scorpions' second best home crowd ever witnessed a 12-try thriller as Oldham Roughyeds fought back from 18 points down to steal a 36-all draw in the Northern Rail Cup.

In front of 849 fans at The Gnoll, Oldham took the lead when Alex Thompson fed John Clough to run home.

Scorpions levelled on 21 minutes. James Greenwood looked to have dropped the ball which Joe Burke latched onto to ground, but the touch judge ruled the ball had gone back and the score was given.

Oldham regained the lead when Jamie Dallimore forced his way over. But straight away the Scorpions levelled, in similar circumstances, with Jamie Acton grounding.

A couple of sets later the home side were in front as debutant Nathan Mossop danced his way past the defence to score.

From kick-off it was 24-12 as James Greenwood shot over.

They extended their lead when Lewis Reece sprinted half the length of the field to score.

Oldham fought back when Bruce Johnson forced his way across with Dallimore soon following him over.

The Scorpions turned defence into attack for a 90-metre score. Rodney Peake created the chance, David James supported and set up Curtis Cunningham to run home. But again Roughyeds fought back, as Matthew Foggerty intercepted a pass to score. And an error let them back in as Oldham produced a good set of six resulting in John Clough scoring.