Naylor slams lack of desire

SCOTT NAYLOR

DESCRIBING the defeat by Swinton as “the most disappointing performance and result in my three and a bit years at the club”, Oldham RL coach Scott Naylor said the Lions had more desire and fully deserved their 28-18 victory.

It was their first Championship win of the season at the eighth attempt.

Unhappy Naylor said: “We didn’t get started and for some reason they seemed to want it more than we did. They played intelligently, but the biggest difference was in how hard they tackled and how hard they worked.”

Oldham stay third from bottom with a game in hand and a significantly better for-and-against record than the two clubs below them, Workington Town and Swinton. It was the second defeat in four days for Naylor’s men - beaten 42-28 by Halifax at Bower Fold on Friday.

The Swinton game, played at Sale RU Club, was the first of four Championship games between the clubs this season, so Roughyeds will get the chance to get their own back.

It didn’t help that Danny Langtree had a recurrence of hamstring trouble in the warm-up before the Halifax game, and that Adam Clay pulled out against Swinton due to illness. To make matters worse, Jack Holmes suffered a serious ankle injury midway through the first half.

Added Naylor: “We need to get back to the principles on which we have built this team over the last three years — hard work for 80 minutes, determination and a never-say-die approach.

“We’ve won a lot of games because we gave 100 per cent from start to finish and came off the field knowing we couldn’t have done more.

“It’s no use going heavily behind, as we have done in the last two games, and then deciding to have a real go when we have nothing to lose.”