Progress not complete despite our York heroics

WE ARE all delighted with the way we played at York, though there is still plenty of room for improvement in our game.

It is good for me as a coach to see that. The good thing is that in the important areas we are looking good and it is more a case of fine tuning than anything else.

There is some defensive work that needs to be done, though at York we scrambled effectively and coped well on a small field in which one mistake can leave you defending on your own goal line.

I am truly excited about the fact that we have another game and the fact that I get another week to work with this team.

That the game in question is a play-off final is a huge achievement. I personally never allowed myself to think about getting to there over the course of the season. But now we are there, we have got a great opportunity open to us.

A lot of people had written us off during this year, but we never stopped believing in our own ability.

I have seen progress week after week and have reported so in this column, only to be lambasted for it by some people.

I do think that anyone remotely positive in their outlook could also spot that we have been getting there and as a squad we have good, solid players who are prepared to put the work in.

Throughout the season we have suffered from injuries to key men, including those brought in from Super League, and then we also had to contend with losing players to Barrow.

We have been right back to starting at square one a number of times. But on each occasion, we have bounced back.

Nothing differently has been done lately, though we have worked hard to create an environment that is stable. Players know what we are doing on what day and at what time, so they can get mentally prepared for a game. This week will be the same.

Aside from the Keighley game, I would like to extend thanks to Chadderton FC who, without our asking, gave us full use of the field we usually share last Thursday night. It was a great gesture.

I would also like to thank JR's Taxis in Leigh. When we picked up the match DVD after the York game we got home to find it was blank.

We needed to get hold of it quickly so we could do video analysis work in training this week, but the firm offered to pick a new one up immediately from York and at no cost to us. It was really special. 

* SEND your good luck messages for the weekend to —

tonybenson@oldham-chronicle.co.uk