We never rolled over — Benson

THOUGH “devastated” by another loss, Oldham RL boss Tony Benson praised his players for their commitment in a 42-20 defeat at Whitehaven.

In a new-look side, Rob Foxen made his debut on the right wing; David Cookson was in at centre after several weeks in the reserves; Jamie Dallimore was back after suspension at half-back; and Liam Gilchrist replaced Lewis Reed in the front-row.

Benson said: “Our performance was a massive improvement all round. We never rolled over, we kept coming back at them and for most of the game we probably had the upper hand. Everyone put his hand up and everyone had a good game.”

Disappointed skipper Neil Roden said: “It’s no real surprise for anyone to lose at Whitehaven. I think I’ve only won here once in all my career.

“The mood in the camp was excellent. It felt really good before the game, and I like to think we performed much better than we did against Rochdale.

“If we’ve missed out on promotion it wasn’t because we lost at Whitehaven; it was because we lost against other teams.

Paul Noone got through the game, but was again troubled by the ankle he damaged at London Skolars in April.

Alex Thompson, who scored the second of four Oldham tries just before half-time, was sick and dizzy during the interval and soon afterwards took a severe knock to the head.


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