Benson relief over difficult victory

Date published: 07 March 2011


NOT a classic by any means, but Roughyeds coach Tony Benson was just glad to see his side in the hat for the fourth round of the Carnegie Challenge Cup.

He no doubt had a few collywobbles when the Warriors drew level at 16-16 midway through the second half, but he always had enough faith in his players to remain confident that they would prevail.

"The Warriors didn't come up with anything that we didn't expect," said the Oldham boss. "They were very well organised and they provided tough opposition.

"They were also full of confidence, as you would expect from a side that had been beaten previously only once all season in cup and league.

"We lacked a bit of self-belief on the back of three losses in a row. We had plenty of heart and no lack of enthusiasm, but once again we were trying too hard to do things right and, as a consequence, forced passes and lost the ball far too much.

"The faults were not so much technical, more of a mental nature. We need to realise how well we can play, and go out and play like that, like we did before the Halifax game.

"The other thing to take into account was the nature of cup football. It's sudden death. Warriors went into the game only 80 minutes from being lauded as giant-killers and they came with that in mind.

"It was their Wembley and they made the most of it. There isn't a team in Co-operative Championship One who will come to the Whitebank Stadium in the league this year and show as much enthusiasm for the contest as did Hunslet Warriors."