Staying focused is key to vital victory - Joy

LEWIS PALFREY . . . had his successful kick ruled out at the Big Bash.

OLDHAM will need no reminding that, in two of three KP Championship games with Swinton this season, they have lost - and let themselves down.

The exception, a tense 26-24 win at Bower Fold last month, was no compensation for an awful first half at Heywood Road and a second half collapse in the Summer Bash game at Blackpool where the Lions won 25-24 from 20-0 down at the break.

Lewis Palfrey's touchline conversion of Michael Ward's late try - ruled out by the touchjudges, but confirmed as good by television re-runs - would have given Scott Naylor's men a 26-25 win.

In the light of subsequent results, they would have been sitting pretty now with five more points than Swinton and seven more than the two Cumbrian clubs; all but mathematically sure of staying up.

Naylor, however, was more concerned about how and why his side surrendered momentum and ended up pointless after an impressive Lions fightback led by Matty Beharrell.

It was a different story in the first of the three derby games. Lions led 24-0 at half-time and Oldham hit back strongly in a 28-18 defeat.

So tight was game three that it yielded 50 points, four tries apiece and five goals from five shots by Lewis Palfrey against Chris Atkin's four from five - the only separation.

That was one of seven defeats for the Lions in nine outings since that crazy Summer Bash game.

But that will mean nothing when Roughyeds go to Heywood Road on Sunday (3pm), needing to be on top form to make a gisant leap towards Championship survival and to enhance Shield play-off hopes.

One point and one place higher in the table, they face opponents who are looking over their shoulders at the bottom two and who will have targeted this game as one they must win.

"Anything can happen in these games, as we've seen already," said prop Phil Joy, who has re-signed for 2017 after an impressive record of 95 appearances out of a possible 103 in four seasons with Naylor as boss.

He was given a rare day off last Sunday, but he's hoping to be back in the 17 at Heywood Road

He added: "We've six games left and we want to finish as high up the table as we can, obviously. We can't afford to get too far ahead of ourselves. The focus this week is on Swinton, nothing else.

"We were disappointed with ourselves when we played at Heywood Road on Easter Monday.

"It's difficult to fathom out why sometimes we seem more up for it than others. I didn't play against Workington last time out, but if we play like we did in that match - aggressive, physical and with the right mental attitude - we'll be okay."

Both teams will be looking for big performances from new boys - Scott Turner (Oldham), Jake Emmitt (Swinton). Turner was an instant hit on debut against Workington, playing at full-back as replacement for injured Richard Lepori.

Emmitt, a former Leigh Centurions prop, was Swinton's star man in a 36-24 defeat at Dewsbury.