Naylor not happy after Oldham slip

Date published: 16 February 2015


OLDHAM returned from Cumbria licking their wounds after losing to Barrow Raiders in their final pre-season warm-up game.

The match began brightly for Roughyeds, who stormed into a 12-0 lead in as many minutes. But after a nip-and-tuck first 40 minutes which saw the Raiders draw level, Oldham finished the half with a four-point lead.

The visitors found a rejuvenated Raiders hard to contain in the second half. Barrow shot into a 16-point lead, but Oldham had some consolation when Kenny Hughes caught the Raiders’ defence napping to score.

Oldham coach Scott Naylor didn’t mince his words afterwards:

“I think we were poor,” he said. “We didn’t have the defensive effort that we had against Leigh last week and we didn’t have the offensive effort we had against Swinton. We started the game well and then just capitulated.. There is no reason why we should start well and not continue. There was no reason for it at all apart from players just switching off, or players not carrying on doing their jobs.

“There are a lot of good teams in this division and we can’t spend the full season defending our own try-line.”