Hamilton applauds against-the-odds win
Reporter: Roughyeds latest, by MATTHEW CHAMBERS
Date published: 11 August 2008
ROUGHYEDS chief executive Chris Hamilton was delighted with the against-the-odds victory over Barrow which maintains the club’s automatic promotion hopes.
The 34-22 win, achieved amid a mammoth injuries list, pushed Oldham level on points with the second-placed Raiders.
Yesterday’s visitors still sit in a promotion spot by virtue of a significantly superior points differential, having picked up a valuable bonus point at Boundary Park.
Had James Coyle’s penalty attempt gone through the posts rather than striking an upright, had Lucas Onyango’s sizzling effort not been disallowed for a leg grazing the touchline, or had Luke Sutton touched down rather than knocking on in the in-goal area, the Roughyeds could well have denied Barrow the consolation of a bonus.
But, with the visitors now having been beaten in five of their last six matches, Mr Hamilton believes that Oldham’s patched-up heroes have still put the pressure firmly back on the shoulders of the South Cumbrian outfit.
“It was a really courageous effort by the lads, given that we were struggling to get 17 players and with it being such a big game,” said Mr Hamilton, who praised the contribution of the debutant pair on loan from Huddersfield Giants, centre Michael Brown and second row James Martin.
“To come within a whisker of denying them a bonus point underlines the character we showed, on the back of two defeats (at York and Doncaster) which were both very physical games.
“All in all we have no complaints and we had great support from the crowd too, who recognised the effort the lads were putting in.”
Barrow have three matches left, starting with this Friday’s game at home to Keighley, and will now need to lose two of those — the others being away games at Doncaster and Swinton — to give the Roughyeds a realistic chance of pipping them to second place.
National League Two leaders Gateshead Thunder confirmed their promotion with a 44-22 home win over Blackpool and now need one more win from their final two games to claim the title trophy.
