Naylor delighted with Whitehaven victory

​Scott Naylor was, as you would expect, chuffed to bits at his Oldham side's all-round performance in a 48-12 win against Whitehaven in the 1895 Cup.

Roughyeds now go into the last 16 with a second-round game at home to fellow League 1 side Doncaster on a date still to be finalised.

It's a new competition that is of special relevance to Roughyeds, given that the club was a founder member, in 1895, of the game we now know as Rugby League; that Royton-born Oldham official Joseph Platt was first secretary of the Northern Union back then; and that for a long time the breakaway professional body was run and administered from Joseph Platt's offices in Queen Street, Oldham.

It was important to the club, and in memory of those early pioneers, that Oldham made a fist of their entry into the 1895 Cup and in the presence of the RFL's chief executive officer Ralph Rimmer they did exactly that.

Said Naylor: "I was really pleased with the performance. We were very good in all departments, playing with drive, quality, intensity and scoring some good tries.

"We were good with the ball and tough in defence .

"We tried to move the ball around and play the game as it should be played. We just need a little bit more confidence, but that will come.

"We put 48 points on the side that's top of Betfred League 1 and that should give us huge confidence for the rest of the season.

"We've got to kick on now and improve every week."

His Whitehaven counterpart Gary Charlton was bitterly disappointed with his team's performance and concluded that Roughyeds won well because they ran harder than the visitors, played the ball quicker and on the back of that won the collision and bossed the rucks.

He added: "Defensively, we were way off. It just wasn't us. There's no excuse for defending as poorly as we did at the ruck."

​A win against Doncaster will take Naylor's men into the last eight, only two gmes from Wembley.

By Roger Halstead