BREXIT is probably a hot topic right now for Oldham’s on-loan winger Harry Aaronson, a student of social politics at the University of Leeds.

He’ll be working out the pros and cons of the UK’s departure from the European Union, but at the Vestacare Stadium on Sunday afternoon he had only two things on his mind. How to get on the Roughyeds’ try-scoring list and how to stay out of injury trouble in a match against one of his former clubs.

Unlike the politicians at Westminster, the 21-year-old former Saddleworth Rangers junior succeeded on both counts, scoring two tries for Roughyeds in his third appearance while on loan from Swinton Lions and coming through unscathed on a day when his dual-reg team-mate Nick Gregson suffered concussion and had to leave the field for a head test.

Given that he was a Keighley player in 2018, Aaronson enjoyed a Fathers’ Day he won’t forget in a hurry, scoring a brilliant solo try from inside his own half, adding another from closer range late in the game and learning afterwards that he had won the club’s Champagne Moment award for his first try razzle-dazzle.

“We’ve still a lot of work to do, but we’re confident we can go up,” said Aaronson, who helped Roughyeds to bounce back from their 31-0 defeat at Doncaster the previous week and climb to third place in the Betfred League 1 table.

Head coach Scott Naylor demanded a much-improved performance and he certainly got that.

Having been ‘nilled’ at Doncaster in a totally out-of-character performance, they scored five tries against the Cougars with two for Aaronson, two for centre Anthony Bowman and another for man-of-the-match Danny Langtree.

Paul Crook landed four conversions from five attempts to take the Roughyeds’ aggregate points total in 11 league games to 350 or, as near as doesn’t matter, to 32 every game.

Only two clubs out of the 11 can better that – Workington on 352 and Newcastle on 360.

Defence was also much stronger and better structured than at Doncaster with backs, forwards and halves combining solidly to repel everything Cougars threw at them.

It was a lot. In the 10 minutes before half time and for much of the second half Cougars won back-to-back sets and thus put the home side under intense pressure.

Tackling and working for each other were spot-on and it looked for all the world that Cougars would be sent home pointless until the dying seconds when their speedy prop Jason Muranka broke away to score in the corner.

Oldham scorers: goals, Crook 4/5; tries, Aaronson (2), Bowman (2), Langtree.

Team: Hawkyard; Aaronson, McComb, Bowman, Maders; Crook, Hewitt; Spencer, Owen, Law, Bridge, Langtree, Bent. Subs: Gregson, Davies, Whittel, Greenwood.

Referee: Kevin Moore.

Attendance: 591.