Naylor happy — but there’s more to be done

A FOURTH win in five games gave Oldham boss Scott Naylor plenty to feel happy about as the clock ticks down to the start of the all-important league campaign in 12 days.

In a faultless performance, Gateshead wouldn’t have been allowed to score 16 points, including 12 in two minutes of the second half.

But there were many positive aspects to the game as Naylor looks ahead to the final Northern Rail Cup group game against South Wales Scorpions away next Sunday.

Naylor: “In the first half we were exceptional: totally professional in the way we went about our business. The scoreboard ticked over nicely, but I knew Thunder would have a good spell, as they did in the second half.

“By then, the speed of the ruck was a lot slower and we started to make mistakes for the first time; we had a lot more defending to do than in the first half.

“On the whole I was very happy with our performance — but we have things to work on before the next game.

“We will be striving to carry on improving and then in a couple of games from now we will assess where we are and how we are looking.”