Roughyeds ‘quietly confident’ of beating home favourites

Date published: 12 September 2014


OLDHAM go into tonight’s play-off qualifier at Hunslet as underdogs - and that suits them fine says assistant coach Lee Spencer.

York and Hunslet, first and second, were relegated a year ago and Spencer acknowledges that one of them is expected to go straight back up.

Oldham lost 38-12 at Hunslet in April, but neither team then resembled the current line-ups. Both squads have been reshaped since early season, but tonight’s teams will have changed little from the thriller at Whitebank seven weeks ago that Scott Naylor’s men won 24-23.

What few changes there are will be mainly in the Hawks line-up - a clear indication of their resolve to go straight back up to the new and restructured 12-club Championship.

“All the expectation and pressure is on them,” said Spencer. “They’ve got home advantage, they’ve made big signings like Briscoe and Moore - and everybody outside Whitebank believes it will be a Hunslet-York final. But we’ve plenty of reason to be quietly confident. We’ve beaten them both.”.