COUGARS boss Paul March admitted his side let themselves down during Wednesday’s 26-24 home defeat at the hands of a youthful Halifax side.

March’s men had claimed an impressive win over Oldham in their opening pre-season friendly at Cougar Park earlier this month.

But they failed to back that up as the Championship visitors took the spoils thanks to a second-half try from replacement Martyn Reilly.

Head coach March, who mixed a number of first-team regulars and youngsters, said: “I thought we set standards against Oldham but we fell below them on Wednesday night.

“There were a lot of changes in personnel from the Oldham game and it was a chance for some of the young boys to give a good performance and claim a shirt.

“But we fell below the standards we had set and playing first-team football means having the right attitude and a certain smartness to your play.

“On all fronts, we weren’t smart enough against Halifax and our attitude was way below.”

Influential loose forward Ash Lindsay hyper-extended his knee during the opening exchanges and was replaced by Aaron Ollett, who scored a try in a fine performance.

Adam Brook, Ross Peltier and Scott Lee were also on the scoresheet and March added: “Aaron Ollett was obviously man of the match and he got plenty of minutes under his belt.

“He has been struggling with his knee a bit in pre-season but took to the field as well as anyone, took his try well and I thought his fitness looked really good.

“Charlie Martin also played with a lot of enthusiasm and the little things that nobody else sees – just us as coaches – he did well and showed he wants to play in my first seventeen.

“Without Tiger (Paul Handforth) being in the side, I thought Adam Brook stood up and took us round the park.

“Overall, we got ourselves in positions to pressurise Halifax but we either lost the ball or made the wrong play.”

Lindsay was taken to hospital as a precaution but March is hopeful the injury is not serious.