The benefits of getting it right behind the scenes

THE THING that pleased me most about the way we played against Swinton was that the efforts we had put in at training paid off on game day.

The main focus for us was the transition from defence to attack and it was much improved compared to the Dewsbury game the previous week.

We got into attacking positions earlier and there was a marked difference in terms of our go-forward and, on the back of that, our support play.

We were pushing through in support of the ball carrier and it led to us creating plenty of opportunities for ourselves.

Defensively there are things that we will work on, though we have a good idea as to what went wrong.

I felt the front row went very well for us against Swinton. Luke Menzies, Paul Highton, Wayne Kerr and Jamie I’Anson all helped to get us going forward and contributed well to a man.

Then on the one side of the field we had Tommy Goulden in the back row, with Dave Allen on the opposite side, and Paul O’Connor pushing more to join in with the attack.

He got one try and could easily have had another.

When you look at the Co-operative Championship One table at the moment, it is mainly dictated by the quality of sides each team has come up against.

Our ratio of points scored (218) and conceded (156) isn’t good at the moment but we will get it right and this season is being viewed as an ongoing process.

As I have already said, the losses we have had so far will make things harder for us but there is still a long way to go in the season.

One other big positive from Swinton was that it was also great to see fans come to the game in their numbers. The fans were so vocal and it was a great atmosphere at Boundary Park on Sunday.

As for the London Skolars game on Saturday, part of me is looking forward to going back to play at my old club — but to be perfectly honest, I am more focused on just getting another game under our belts.

You have to be careful with sides like Skolars as they can suddenly pull results out of the bag and I am speaking there from personal experience.

tonybenson@oldham-chronicle.co.uk