Workington Town head coach Dave Clark was relieved to have led his side to a 20-6 win over Oxford yesterday after going in level at the break.

Oxford’s defence was outstanding and kept Town out for much of the game. The penalty count was in Town’s favour but the Welshman was still disappointed with the amount his side gave away.

“The win takes a little bit of pressure off us doesn’t it?” he said.

“You’re always looking to get your first win but we made it hard for ourselves again especially when it came do discipline.

“I was disappointed that we were still level at the break and I gave them a bit of a tough half-time talk. The boys realised what they needed to do and they came out in the second half and changed the way that they played – credit to them for doing that. In the second half, we had a lot of go-forward, a lot of options and it was good work by the boys for following the plans.”

The home crowd were critical of referee Brandon Robinson for the penalties Oxford gave away but Clark believes that he was fair to both sides.

He added: “I think the referee today was right on the game in what he wanted in contact and movement so he challenged both sides today with those penalties.

“I think we gave away five in each half which is a bit of a concern for us.

“It’s an improvement in regards to discipline from previous games but we need to improve again.

“It was an arm-wrestle for the full 80 minutes and we allowed ourselves to be put in that position.

“It was a team effort. The experienced players led the way for us, but I think today guys like Perry Singleton coming off the bench had a massive impact and Conor Fitzsimmons in the middle of the field gave us really good go-forward, found space with quick play the balls and gave our pivots the space to run.

“We’ve got some players there that are learning their roles within the team, we’ve got our communicators, those who guide us around the field and those who do all the dog-work.

“We’re still learning as a side and it’s good to get the first win on the board. It’s good that we’ve now got a couple of weeks off and we can focus on Gloucester, who did well to beat Keighley today, and get things right for the next game.”