Crowley eased nerves — Naylor

Josh Crowley touches down against Egremont Rangers.

SCOTT Naylor experienced a few different emotions during a hard-fought Challenge Cup tie in Cumbria - including what he described in his post-match briefing as “a nervous 10 minutes”.

That was roughly how long it took Roughyeds to respond to the wake-up call Egremont delivered by scoring their fourth and final try to cut the visitors’ lead to a mere six points with 12 minutes left.

Having led 24-6 at half-time and 30-12 a quarter of an hour into the second half, Naylor’s men were stunned when the amateurs scored two converted tries in 10 minutes to peg Oldham's lead to 30-24.

But Josh Crowley took matters into his own hands to twice stride powerfully under the posts for a couple of tries to clinch Roughyeds’ passage into the fourth round - much to the relief of Naylor.

“It’s nice to know we’ll be in the hat for the next round. That was always the objective,” said the Oldham coach.

“Cumbria isn’t an easy place to come to. No matter what level you’re playing at, it’s tough up here because they are very proud people, they know their rugby and they give it everything they’ve got.

“We were excellent in the first half. We did a thorough, professional job and the half-time score - 24-6 - was a true reflection of the game.

“The second half was a different story. We gave away too many penalties and conceded too much ground and Egremont got too close to us for comfort.

“Fortunately, Josh Crowley stepped up and crashed in for two tries in the last few minutes to ease our nerves. Egremont should be proud of their efforts.”