It's been an excellent week for Whitehaven coach James Coyle – a father again, of his first daughter, and a return to winning ways for his Cumbrian team.

The immediate sleepless nights are more likely to be down to baby Aoife rather than wrestling with problems out on the pitch.

An invaluable 14-6 win over Oldham on Sturdy night ended a run of two successive defeats and pushed Haven out of the last relegation place to fourth bottom.

Coyle said: “It was a bit scrappy at times, and became an arm wrestle. I think it was their game plan to take us on in the forwards and we coped well.

“When we were able to throw the ball about we scored two excellent tries and I think that’s the kind of rugby we are capable of.

“It might have been even better for us if we had scored from Dion Aiye’s break very early on but it didn’t quite happen.

“I think the bottom line is that we have improved through the season. Although there have been games I thought we should have won, like Batley and London Broncos, generally there has been only one serious blip and that was the heavy defeat at Leigh.

“Beating Oldham was very important because they have been going really well, with two Championship wins and that outstanding Challenge Cup success at Hull KR. We have another crucial game on Sunday at Swinton. They have been improving, too, so we will have to get our focus right for that one.”

Chris Taylor and Craig Calvert scored the Whitehaven tries to help them into a 12-6 interval lead and the only points in the second-half came from a Louis Jouffret penalty.

The second try, scored by Calvert, was especially significant as it equalled the record established by a former Recreation Ground favourite David Seeds.