OLDHAM coach Alan Kilshaw might have lost halfback Morgan Smith and prop Ted Chapelhow to injuries – but he still had plenty of reasons to be cheerful after the 28-12 trans-Pennine triumph at Halifax – not least his team’s toughness.
It means the Roughyeds host Hunslet at Bower Fold, Stalybridge on Sunday on a five-match winning streak, and the team chief wants another steely showing.
“We have skill and we have flair in this side, but we needed to get tougher, and I was pleased with how we dealt with a good Halifax team,” he said.
“They have a big pack, who we knew would be aggressive and try to get into us, and they had Brandon Douglas flying out of the line, but we stood up them.
“It was a grind of a game, and 6-6 for quite a spell before we got a couple of tries before half-time then one after it to get away from them.
“With losing Morgan and Ted, we had to reshuffle, but we had Riley Dean in the team (he went from the centres to the halves), although that meant we couldn’t play Bayley Liu in the middle.
“That then meant Max Wood, Adam Milner and Owen Farnworth doing long minutes, and we brought (hooker) Matty Wildie back on at 13, and he was good in both his spells.
“As well as the toughness, I was pleased with our patience and how we found points.
“There were a few disappointing things, particularly when went 6-0 then errored soon after to let them back into it, but overall it was encouraging.”
Australian halfback Josh Drinkwater added: “We were gritty and stayed in the fight and in certain periods of the game, I thought we were exceptional.”