IT wasn’t a nip-and-tuck game to start Scott Naylor’s pulse racing, but the Oldham boss, as you would expect, was pleased with his side’s “professional job” in beating Hemel Stags 74-6.
Stags went into an early 6-0 lead, but Roughyeds quickly recovered their composure to score 13 tries and 11 goals and produce their biggest winning margin in more than eight years.
Said Scott:
“I’m pleased with the result, obviously. We did a professional job, but there is always a danger lurking in a game this this; there’s a big temptation for players to go away from structure and, instead, to start making things up as they go along.
“That’s usually when things go wrong, but in the main we stuck to what we had been doing in training and that stood us in good stead.
“I thought everyone who came into the side did very well. Gareth Owen looked good at half-back and that was very pleasing.
“Taken all round it was a good performance. We did what we were expected to do.
“It wasn’t an inspirational game but you can only do what you have to do. That we did that, achieving what we set out to do, is beyond question.
“Because of the way the fixtures have dropped we’ve had a difficult start to the season, so we needed to make up ground in our ‘for and against’ stats by scoring some points and by playing some nice, expansive rugby.
“It was good for the fans to see some good rugby and some good tries.”
Added chairman Chris Hamilton:
“We could easily have topped 100 points. We were a bit sloppy at times in the first half but in the main we played good rugby, scored some great tries and did what we had to do.
“To come into the side, score three tries, carry the ball strongly and do his tackling like he did, Zack McComb did a great job.
“I was going to award Luke Nelmes with Magic Moment because of his first try, but his second was even better. He’s a big man with a big heart, all arms and elbows, not the sort of opponent you would want running straight at you if you were defending.”
