Workington Town coach Chris Thorman hopes his side will fight to maintain their rock-solid defence when they host Oldham at Borough Park on Sunday (3pm kick-off).

Town returned to their former home for the first time in more than 30 years last weekend and did so in style with a 54-16 win against Coventry Bears.

Although his side were back to their free-flowing best going forward, Thorman believes the victory was built on the fearsome defending that has seen them restrict opponents to few opportunities in their recent League 1 games.

He said: “I’ve openly spoken about defence being the priority.

“Successful teams in rugby league, their ethos and philosophies are built around conceding as few tries as possible.

“That comes about in a number of different ways and we’ve done a lot of work on our ruck defence and tackle technique, understanding your role in different areas of the field.

“I think if you asked the players they’d probably be feeling a bit bashed up after training recently because when you’re practising tackling you can’t really do it half-hearted.

“I’ve always felt that if you’re going to do something you’re going to do it properly.”

Town go into the game against Oldham looking to close in on a play-offs place, with the Roughyeds third, three points off league leaders Whitehaven and one behind second-placed London Skolars.

Children under the age of 16 will be granted free entry to Sunday’s match if they are a member of a local sports team and wear their colours.

Town ran the initiative for the first time last season for the home game against York and drew their biggest home crowd of the season, even surpassing the games against Whitehaven and Bradford.

Director Graeme Peers, who is responsible for community engagement, said: “We got a good response to it last year and people seemed to enjoy it so hopefully the town will get behind us again.”