Benson blasts ‘dumb’ Oldham

RUGBY immaturity was one of the major factors in Oldham's bitterly disappointing 31-12 defeat at Workington, said Roughyeds coach Tony Benson.

The Cumbrians scored six tries to Oldham's two in inflicting the Roughyeds first away defeat in Co-operative Championship One since the 36-18 loss at Hunslet on September 6, 2009.

"There was no lack of effort... just an acute shortage of smart rugby," summed up a clearly shell-shocked Benson after witnessing his side concede two tries in the first five minutes and another two in the first four minutes of the second half.

He added: "The first few minutes of each half killed us, and then a bit of panic set in. We were immature. You can't win a game without the ball.

"By conceding penalties and sometimes going for one pass too many we presented Workington with possession on a plate. They had all the ball for long periods.

"You make your own luck, and Workington did have a lucky start. It served them well, but the concern for me is that we didn't react as I would have expected.

"I couldn't possibly be more disappointed by this result and by the way it came about. I'm also sorry for the fans who travelled up here. I expected to give them a lot more.

"We showed odd glimpses of the things we have been working on in training, but for far too long we moved away from those disciplines and tried to do other things.

"I'm gutted we didn't even get a bonus point. We are good enough to win games like these, but we've got to keep on working hard and we've got to pick ourselves up and get on with it."