Two points a boost as play-offs approach

FIRST of all, I will start by thanking the supporters for the very vocal backing we received over at Blackpool on Sunday.

It was superb — not for the first time — to see so many of our fans there and we seemed to comfortably outnumber the home support. I really applaud the efforts that people made to get there and I know the players feel the same way,

Looking back at the game itself, though it ended as a draw the statistics show that they scored five tries while we scored six.

Four of those tries they got came as a result of our stray passes. As a team, there is nothing you can do about that but overall, we were strong again in defence and I was happy with our efforts.

We didn't do too badly at all and as in previous weeks, our enthusiasm levels were very good indeed. There is undoubtedly room for improvement, though, and we are targeting that this weekend.

I was really impressed with Craig Lawton, who made his debut for us after joining from Doncaster late last week.

He turned up for a 30-minute training session with us without knowing how everyone plays, yet fitted in brilliantly and did so well both defensively and on offence.

GELS

His offloads, which I admit surprised me as much as the players, are very dangerous and I can't wait until he gels with the rest of the boys so we can work off those.

Keighley, who are a point ahead of us in second place, face Hunslet at home this weekend and that will be a difficult game for them.

In fact, Hunslet will be a tough game for anyone now and I am glad that we are down to play against them last, over at the South Leeds Stadium. That way, we can treat it as a bit of a Grand Final.

Before that we have a game of huge importance at home this weekend, with York coming over to play us at Boundary Park.

They smashed London Skolars 64-0 on Sunday which is an impressive effort, so we will need to be at our very best.

Co-operative Championship One is a strong competition right through. In the play-offs there will be six sides and you can make a case for any of those sides beating any other.

That is a unique situation. In the last couple of years, or certainly while I have been coaching at this level, going into the last couple of games there were clear leaders favourites. That is not the case this year and it is very open.

tonybenson@oldham-chronicle.co.uk