Naylor demands the best at all times

Oldham RL head coach Scott Naylor

Scott Naylor was delighted with the 44-12 result . . . but not quite so pleased with Oldham’s 80-minute performance against London Skolars.

The best of the southern teams by far, Skolars were only six points down for the best part of half-an-hour spread across the half-time interval.

Roughyeds set off like a house on fire to go 12-0 up in six minutes, but then they lost their way a bit and it required a late sprint to the finishing line to see off the visitors’ brave challenge.

Said Naylor: “The score (44-12) was probably what a lot of people expected. We didn’t.

“London are a much better side than this score suggests and they gave us a tougher game than some of the recent ones we’ve had.

“We started strongly, but we let them back in it by conceding penalties and consequently field position.

“Skolars can punish you if you do that so this performance shows that we still have a lot to learn.

“We kicked on in the last 25 minutes, scoring some nice tries.

"Also, we stopped conceding penalties and giving away field position and that made all the difference.

“We had Ben Davies playing only his second game of the season; Dave Eccleston back from injury; Jack Spencer back from injury. It was good they got some game time.

“We now look forward to the Hunslet game. In the league they were the last side to beat us way back on April 8. That defeat still stings.

“They are a good team, especially at home, and we’ll have to be at our best in every department.

“We are now at the half-way stage of the campaign, exactly, and we’re nicely positioned to do well in the second half, given that we’ve won eight league games in a row and we’re in third position.

“We are four points better off than Doncaster now, but we need to keep putting points on the board and we need to carry on winning.”