Eight is great as Oldham reach for the top

Photo: PICTURE by TIM BRADLEY

TOUCHDOWN! Oldham fans shout home Adam Clay as the winger adds to his team’s tally against Newcastle Thunder.

OLDHAM are back on top of Kingstone Press League One after a superb 45-20 victory romp against Newcastle Thunder at Whitebank.

Eight tries - including a hat-trick by winger Adam Clay - inflicted Thunder’s second league defeat of the campaign and elevated Roughyeds to the top following Keighley’s first defeat in six by Swinton Lions.

Steve Roper, Gareth Owen, Danny Langtree, Steven Nield and Lewis Palfrey also crossed Thunder’s line to leave chairman Chris Hamilton enthusing: “Our forwards were exceptional.”

Roughyeds coach Scott Naylor: “Everything worked a treat. We targeted a few things we needed to do after our defeat at Barrow and we did them perfectly. It gave us a lot more control of the game than we had at Barrow.

“We can always score tries, but you’ve got to have the ball, obviously, and then get into good field positions before you can turn pressure into points.

“We had the right attitude. It was great to see our lads responding so well after Barrow. I can’t give them enough credit for the way they train tough three times a week and then turn up on Sunday refreshed and ready to go again. We’ve got a great set of lads here.

“It speaks volumes about their characters and about the sort of people they are that they should respond with a five-star performance like this.”

Oldham came through without injury but they have no game next weekend. Their next outing is another tough test against Keighley Cougars at Keighley on May 31.

They might have to go into that game without Gareth Owen, George Tyson and Josh Johnson, who have all been charged with striking offences in the now infamous Barrow brawl. Their cases go before the RFL disciplinary committee tomorrow night.