Quicker start is a must for Deakin

A disappointed Steve Deakin

 PLAY-OFF defeat to Doncaster has resulted in Oldham propping up the bar at the last chance saloon.

But instead of drowning their sorrows, the players have been busy steeling themselves for a shoot-out to end all shoot-outs against local rivals Rochdale this weekend.

Coach Steve Deakin is certainly hopeful his men will be quicker on the draw than they were last weekend.

Slackness from the off against the team from South Yorkshire saw the Dons establish an 18-0 lead they would never surrender, sending Ellery Hanley's men through to the National League Two Grand Final at Oldham's expense by way of a 32-20 final scoreline.

It is do or die now for a team that had set a firm goal of gaining promotion before the start of the season. Despite the Roughyeds having had, on balance, the best of things against the in-form Hornets in 2008 — three wins and a two defeats, including the Law Cup — the fact that new coach Darren Shaw has brought in a number of new faces will mean this game should provide a stiff challenge.

"Because they have a lot of new players since we played them last and a new coach too, I don't think what happened before will have too much bearing," said Deakin.

"It is a preliminary final so if they don't come after us this week, they never will.

"We know full well that we don't get another opportunity after this one. There is no second bite.

"We have to control our emotions and take them out of the equation.

“We need to focus on playing a team as much as an occasion.

"The players openly stated that the performance against Doncaster wasn't enough to get us the result.

"That said, at 77 minutes were were only six points behind, having been 18 points behind at one stage and scoring four tries each.

"In my own mind, I felt that if we were going to show a weakness it would be through a slow start to the game.

"We have had three weeks without a game, but haven't had many training in that time.

"There was a lack of cohesion about us. Doncaster played the day after the Challenge Cup final (beating Hunslet 52-4 at home) and looked sharper than we did at the start.

"But we gave enough indication that we were rectifying that as the game progressed to give us confidence for this week."

Deakin is honest enough to admit he would prefer "to be on a beach" right now. The Roughyeds certainly threw away a golden chance to gain automatic promotion by now, picking up only one bonus point all season — less than any other club in the whole of the National League set-up.

Opportunities to claim that one extra point needed to displace Barrow in second spot came and went, agonisingly, due to conceding late scores in losses at Keighley, Gateshead and York.

Claiming just one extra point in the 34-22 home defeat of Barrow — a game in which James Coyle struck a post with a penalty — would have achieved the same goal by robbing the Cumbrian side of their own bonus.

That a lick of paint on an upright may ultimately decided Oldham's fate is almost fitting, given how tight NL2 has been in 2008.

But the uncertainty that remains certainly doesn't help when it comes to enticing players to the club for next season, whichever division the Roughyeds end up playing in.

"We are trying very hard to manage the current situation while at the same time laying the foundations for next season in an effort to go further than we have done," added Deakin, himself out of contract come the end of the current campaign.

"It is a hectic time of year and people don't necessarily appreciate that. They see a player sign and think that is that, where in reality to get to that situation means speaking to a number of people and attending a number of meetings — at the same time, appraising the current members of the squad."