SUPPORTERS were treated to a 10-try rout of Rochdale Hornets, as Oldham demolished a wounded Rochdale side 54-6 on Easter Sunday at Boundary Park, writes Kasey Smith.

In a game which was announced as the club’s biggest attendance in sixteen years, Oldham found considerable joy down Rochdale’s right edge with Ben O’Keefe and Jordan Turner giving former Oldham man Joe Hartley a torrid afternoon.

Hornets named six former Roughyeds in their starting line-up, including Emmerson Whittel who made his debut, but they could do nothing to prevent Oldham’s dominance.

Rochdale had threats with the pace of Openshaw at hooker as well as the tricky Lewis Else in the halves.

However when Else was forced off through injury, the Hornets side — already missing experienced heads in Gregg McNally and Martyn Ridyard — retreated into their shells.

A pleasing aspect for Roughyeds boss Sean Long was that Oldham seemed to get better as the game went on; the scoreline in the second half was 34-0 in Roughyeds’ favour.

Oldham started with a bang with Agoro and Wardle both going close before Jamie Ellis, usually the provider, brushed off tacklers to score to the right of the posts.

A bit of indiscipline crept in, and two back-to-back penalties helped Rochdale to respond just minutes later through Myles Harrop.

It was a closely-fought battle for the first fifteen minutes, but the Hornets defence broke when Joe Wardle stormed through a gap to set away Craig Kopczak with O’Keefe the beneficiary, as he dived over theatrically to re-take the lead.

All afternoon there were huge gaps on the Rochdale right edge which Turner exploited on 23 minutes to make the score 14-6.

After realising the gaps, Turner fancied his chances again and he got his second after batting away several hapless Rochdale tacklers.

Oldham continued their good form into the second half with O’Keefe also getting a second try after Oldham shifted the ball from left to right, creating ample space for the winger to exploit and score.

Roughyeds surged down that flank once more, only to find Turner’s path obstructed this time; quick to adapt, Turner swiftly offloaded to Ted Chapelhow who bulldozed his way past the Rochdale defence, extending the lead to 28-6.

More gaps emerged in the Rochdale line, who were clearly tiring, and a simple pass by Jordan Paga from the play-the-ball allowed Owen Farnworth the opportunity to effortlessly glide over the goal line unchallenged, right under the posts.

A rare Oldham fumble, just ten meters from their own goal line, gave Rochdale a big chance to narrow the gap.

But any hopes of a consolation were dashed when Mo Agoro leaped off the line to snatch the pass and run the length of the field, for the third time this year, to score.

In the closing moments of the game, Adam Lawton showcased his prowess by scoring two impressive tries, evading multiple tacklers for his second, which came just seconds before the hooter rang.

After just two games gone, Oldham have already notched up over 100 points scored – keep that up and they will be well on their way to going unbeaten this year.

Oldham: goals, Ellis 7/10; tries, Ellis, O’Keefe x2, Turner x2, T.Chapelhow, Farnworth, Agoro, Lawton x2

Rochdale: goals, FLanagan 1/1; tries, Harrop

Sin Bin: C.Kopczak – Professional Foul

OLDHAM: Astley; Agoro, Turner, Morgan, O’Keefe; Craven, Ellis; Kopczak, Wildie, Farnworth, Wardle, Lawton, J.Chapelhow. Subs: Paga, T.Chapelhow, Josh Johnson, Hirst (all used) 18th Man: Laulu-Togaga’e

ROCHDALE: Flanagan; Nixon, Hartley, Harrop, Brierley; Hollidge, Else; Brannan, Openshaw, Nelmes, Forster, Ratcliffe, Straugheir. Subs: Whittel, Juma, Brennan, Andrade (all used) 18th Man: Rudd

Referee: Andy Sweet; HT: 20-6; Pens: 11-8; Att: 2041