Sport

Molloy wary of Hornets derby battle


23/ 3/2004

PLAYER-COACH Steve Molloy was encouraged by Oldham's performance at Chorley but knows his side face an altogether tougher proposition in Sunday's derby clash with Rochdale Hornets at Boundary Park (6pm kick-off).

He said: "It was a further improvement and it's positive the players are showing signs they are learning, but I'm not going to go overboard - I expect us to beat division two opponents. The way we went about our business was generally good and yet I still didn't feel the scoreline reflected our dominance."

On the plus side, winger Nick Johnson bagged a hat-trick to take his season's tally to nine tries and there were good displays from the likes of Ian Watson, Paul Southern and Martin McLoughlin. But with resources already stretched, a back injury to hooker Keith Brennan is now the main concern ahead of this weekend's Arriva Trains Cup derby.

The full extent of the problem will not be clear until the end of the week but Molloy has already made tentative enquiries about bringing in new faces on loan. Failing that, he could turn to the likes of Ian Watson to step into the breach.

Hornets come to town with several ex-Roughyeds players in their ranks and will be seeking revenge for their narrow pre-season Law Cup defeat.

Molloy said: "As the last encounter showed, motivation won't be a problem for either side. Rochdale were written off at the start of the season by a lot of people and yet Bobbie Goulding has already turned them around. However, we're concentrating on ourselves rather than worrying about the opposition and I will look for further improvement."


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