Hamilton: Oldham looking up

Photo: Paul Sterritt

Chris Hamilton.

OLDHAM may have "turned the corner" in their on-going battle to beat the drop.

That is the verdict of Chris Hamilton, the Roughyeds chairman, after watching Scott Naylor's players fight back to earn a stunning draw at Batley.

Leaving themselves with a mountain to climb after shipping 22 points in the opening 20 minutes, Oldham recovered in style to claim a share of the spoils which could be crucial in the club's bid to sidestep relegation from the Kingstone Press Championship.

Reflecting on the 22-22 draw, Hamilton said: "We have potentially turned the corner by showing any amount of character, determination and spirit. The atmosphere was buzzing on the coach on the way home.

"Batley are in second place in the Shield competition and it is a notoriously difficult place to go to, so to get a point was a terrific result, especially after the position that we found ourselves in early on in the game.

"And but for Dave Hewitt's kick near the end glancing off one of their players before hitting a post, we could have won it. That's what's lacking at the moment - that bit of good fortune which could tip the balance in our favour.

"If someone had offered us a point before the game, we would have snatched their hand off, though."

Oldham remain second from bottom in the Championship, but are now within a point of Swinton Lions, who lost 30-16 at home to already relegated Bradford last weekend, with four games to go in the Shield series.

Hamilton went on: "Batley obviously know how to exploit the slope at their ground, because it does a make difference, and we didn't start how we wanted to.

"We gradually started to do the right things, and to get that try before the break was important.

"It gave us confidence and we knew if we could score first in the second half, it would be game on."

The Roughyeds are next in action on Bank Holiday Monday when they go to Rochdale (kick-off 3pm).

An Oldham victory against Alan Kilshaw's men would narrow the gap between the two great rivals to just a point.