Naylor’s faith in young front-row rewarded

Photo: PICTURES by CHRIS SUNDERLAND

TOUCHDOWN . . . Danny Whitmore scores Oldham’s second try in the 12th minute

1 More Image(s) In Gallery

Oldham 48, Oxford 28

FORTIFIED by Nathan Mason’s arrival from Huddersfield Giants, Oldham’s young pack smashed Oxford’s forwards into submission and caned them with six of the best.

Senior citizen Jason Boults was out injured, so the average age of the four front-row men Phil Joy, Michael Ward, Alex Davidson and Mason — was fractionally more than 21.

Pinning his faith almost exclusively in youth, Scott Naylor left out Mark Hobson and went with

20-year-old George Tyson on the bench alongside Mason (20) and Davidson (21).

Regular second-row pair Josh Crowley (22) and Danny Langtree (23) ensured that Oldham fielded an exceptionally young crop of forwards who put in a hard-grafting and productive shift to establish the platform for a 48-28 win.

It followed a 52-16 hammering of Gateshead Thunder in the previous home game and produced eight tries — all but two scored by the young bloods of the pack.

Ward and Langtree led the charge of the heavy brigade with two apiece and there were others for Tyson, his first for the club, and hooker Danny Whitmore.

Coach Naylor was desperate to win this one, not only to erase the hurt of last year’s home defeat by Tony Benson’s Oxford, but to see his young charges get back to winning ways after Good Friday’s poor performance against Hunslet.

Team changes promised by Naylor included Steven Nield’s recall at full-back; a home debut at centre for 19-year-old Edwin Okanga-Ajwang; and the inclusion at loose-forward of Sam Gee, ahead of Hobson.

Not only did teenager Edwin face the pressures of playing in only his second Championship One game and his first at Whitebank, but he also found himself directly opposite former Super League star Ryan McGoldrick.

Now 33 and killing time before heading home to Sydney, McGoldrick has joined Oxford short-term.

To go up against a player of such repute must have been a daunting prospect for the youngster, but he coped with it admirably.

Nield, at full-back, also did well. He never put a foot wrong, made good ground on kick returns and generally produced a performance from which he would take a lot of positives.

Skipper Palfrey looked more like the Palfrey of last season, taking charge in a much-improved kicking game, landing eight goals from nine attempts and showing a willingness to attack. He had a hand in the build-up to most of Oldham’s tries and, like Robinson, came up with a second-half 40-20 from which Roughyeds made scrum possession count.

They played well behind a dominant pack in which two-try Ward, up the middle, and Crowley, wide on the left, were almost unstoppable in the first 25 minutes.