High praise for Roughyeds stars

SAFELY OVER . . . Sammy Gee scores Oldham’s opening try.

IT isn’t in Scott Naylor’s mindset to get carried away with lavish praise - but even he admitted he was “proud and privileged” to coach his squad yesterday.

After watching Lewis Palfrey captain Oldham to their eighth win in a row, Naylor said: “These boys are a credit to themselves and a credit to the club. They make my job very easy indeed.

“Everyone at the club should be proud of the way they are playing and the tries they are scoring. Defensively, too, we are working extremely hard to keep our line intact. To concede only 14 points in two games against quality sides like North Wales and Keighley shows what the boys are made of.”

Naylor’s men have opened up a four-point lead at the top of League One with five games of the regular season still to play.

He added: “It was always going to be a challenge to back up what we did in Wrexham with a similar

performance against another top side only a week later, but the boys never seemed unduly troubled in raising their game to a similar standard.

“Of the eight northern sides in League One, Keighley was the only team we hadn’t beaten this year in either league or iPro Sport Cup. We’ve done it now, so that’s another box we can tick.”

Oldham chairman Chris Hamilton said: “This was another massive effort. It was a little bit sloppy at times, but the lads are latching on to that themselves and putting it right.

“In early season a lot of people said we wouldn’t hack it in this division, with five coming down from the Championship, but it’s good to prove them wrong.”