Kingstone Press League 1 preview: Oldham v York City Knights

Oldham went back to the top of the league after a tough win at University of Gloucestershire All Golds last week.

Coach Scott Naylor said: “We’ve had two really tough games against Gloucester, they have scored 60 points against us in two games. Sometimes there are teams who have a little bit of a thing on you and Gloucester seem to be that team for us.

“After the win over Swinton, there was always the chance that we could come down a little bit. The first half went well and we probably had a mental edge but in the second half looked a bit flat and tired. It was warm and the journey took us quite a while. It was one of those games where we had to get a win and fortunately we kind of crept over the line.

“York are playing really well and are creeping up the table slowly – they go under the radar. I’ve watched a couple of their games and they play really nice rugby.

“They are one of the teams that we don’t play away so this is the only time we’ll play them this year. We need to be at our best and it’s a game we could do with winning.

“After the Swinton and Gloucester wins, it would be nice to have a bit of a run of wins and get through this midway part of the season where we’re playing week-in week-out. It’s about picking up as many points as we can.”

York City Knights’ 26-16 win over Swinton Lions saw them move up to third and they are now unbeaten in their last four games.

Looking ahead to the match against Oldham, coach James Ford said: “Every game is important. If you look at the table, it’s really close.

“There’s not a lot between the top eight teams so it’s important to pick up wins, especially back-to-back wins like we have done.

“Oldham is a massive game this weekend. They are a very good team who are well coached and are very physical. It’ll be a very different type of test than Swinton and it’s one we’re eagerly anticipating.”