Oldham coach stays positive

MARCUS St Hilaire is in line to make his first appearance of the season on Sunday. Roughyeds face up to Lions test

TONY Benson is taking a positive outlook as he prepares his Oldham side for Sunday’s Northern Rail Cup tie at Swinton Lions (3pm).

The Roughyeds coach believed his team were partly to blame for their downfall in the 50-10 defeat by Championship outfit Halifax.

The failure to complete sets and too many penalties conceded did not help Oldham’s cause at The Shay.

But Benson is remaining upbeat as looks forward to the club’s third Pool Two games in the competition.

He said: “It was just one of those games.

“It was there for the taking at 14-6 at half time, and I thought we could do it at that stage.

“However, they kept the ball off us for 15 minutes and scored three tries at the start of the second half, and that was game over.”

Defeat at Halifax followed a superb 28-22 win over Hunslet Hawks.

Those results leave Oldham just outside the top-four qualifying places in the section.

Although this weekend’s match at The Willows looks an easier proposition compared to the visit to West Yorkshire, Benson is wary of the threat Swinton will pose.

He said: “They are the team to beat (in Co-operative Championship One).

“They’ve spent the money and built a quality squad. It’s a good challenge for us and it’ll help us to gauge where we are ourselves.”

Lions need to win if they are to have any hope of reaching the next stage after back-to-back defeats.

However, their performance in the opening game against Halifax shows they warrant the utmost of respect.

Steve McCormack’s men pushed ’Fax all the way, leading 22-20 before eventually succumbing 28-22.

They were beaten 42-20 at Leigh Centurions most recently — but that only tells half of the story.

Lions scored five tries and gave a good account of themselves, despite the 20-point margin of defeat.

The two Ians, Mort and Watson, stood out. The former scored two tries, while the latter pulled the strings in midfield.

Recent signing Chris Tyrer could be elevated into the Lions’ starting 13 to face Oldham. The talented forward was on the bench for Swinton’s loss at Leigh.

But McCormack is promising to give each of his first team squad a chance to impress before the start of the Co-operative Championship season.