IT was to be the day Danny Langtree came home and gave Oldham the impetus to beat the Betfred League 1 leaders and consolidate their position in the top four.

Trouble was, nobody told Hunslet – either that, or the Yorkshiremen didn’t want any part of it in their pursuit of the coveted top spot at the end of the year.

They ran harder, tackled harder and were generally more aggressive than any other side seen this year at the Vestacare Stadium and it was difficult to argue with their contention that their 36-28 win was totally deserved.

As for Oldham, their worrying habit of surrendering a substantial lead when put under pressure in the later stages of games is fast becoming a major problem because it continues to happen time and time again.

And nobody, it seems, has an answer.

It happened in the home defeat by Workington; it happened at Newcastle; and it happened again on Sunday, when Roughyeds went 28-18 up with only 13 minutes left, only to concede three converted tries by two former Oldham players Adam Robinson and Ben Heaton, who crossed twice, in the last eight minutes.

The Vestacare fell silent. You could hear a pin drop – and you knew what the fans were thinking: ‘Oh no, not again’.

They started badly, going 12 points down in the first 14 minutes, but then rallied well to go in at half time level at 14-14.

Anthony Bowman, all class and composure, set Oldham on their way with their first try after 20 minutes and, three minutes later, left-winger Kyran Johnson brilliantly collected a Dave Hewitt cross-kick high above his head to score a second Oldham try.

Three goals by Hewitt gave Roughyeds parity at the interval, after which two great tries by centre Zack McComb should have been enough to see the home side over the line.

It all began to go wrong, though, when Hunslet’s aggression went over the top and caused a couple of handbags and fisticuffs, culminating first in yellow cards for Oldham skipper Gareth Owen and Hunslet loose-forward Mike Emmett and then, after the second flare-up, another yellow for Oldham’s Langtree and a red for the visitors’ prop Dan Hawksworth.

Significantly, the penalty went to Oldham on each occasion but with only 22 players on the pitch – 11 a side – Hunslet adjusted superbly while Oldham looked troubled and handicapped by the extra space.

The last dozen or so minutes were totally dominated by Hunslet, who had a terrific on-field leader in prop Robinson.

Leading by example, he scored a strong try and then whipped up his men for one final assault, this producing two Heaton tries in the last few minutes as the Roughyeds’ inquest began into yet another late fade-out.