Eagles are too tough for Oldham

OLDHAM assistant coach Pete Carey admitted his side struggled almost throughout yesterday's chastening 56-16 defeat at Sheffield in their opening Championship Shield clash.

Head coach Scott Naylor kept his players locked in the dressing room for some time after the heavy reverse in south Yorkshire, leaving Carey to speak on his behalf to the waiting media.

Carey said "It was really tough for us.

"The disappointing thing is that we trained really well all week leading into the game, so we were heading into the game with a really positive mindset.

"To come out and produce that is not good enough. We just really struggled straight from the kick-off.

PRESSING

"It didn't help us that we were pressing the line and then the next thing we were stood behind the sticks and that happened three or four times throughout the game.

"They had a lot of pace and power about them and we couldn't cope at times. That's not good and it's not good signs for us where we want to see a bit of fight for each other.

"The end of the first half was slightly more pleasing.

"We were hoping to build on that end to the first half where we scored two tries and take that into the second half and attempt to pull those two scores back.

"We spoke about that at half time and what we need to be doing.

"We asked for a big start when we came out and we didn't get that big start."

Oldham will bid to bounce back from this latest setback on Sunday when they host Bradford Bulls, who were relegated yesterday.