OLDHAM did just about what was expected of them in Sunday’s home clash with the Betfred League 1 also-rans.

In a division of 11, 10 are competitive and capable of beating any of their rivals on any given day.

Sadly, that can’t be said of the Raiders from Llanelli, who have lost each of their 13 games; scored only 110 points at an average of 8.5 per game; and conceded 689, which is 261 more than anyone else.

Given that Scott Naylor’s men have the best for-and-against difference in the division – 211 against the Welsh team’s minus-579 – you would expect nothing less than the 50-point drubbing which elevated Roughyeds into second place.

It’s fair to say, though, that the cosmopolitan lot from red-hot rugby union country, fielding a Fijian, an Italian and a Frenchman, have come on in leaps and bounds in the past 12 months.

Oldham put an embarrassing 102 on them at the Vestacare Stadium in 2018 and the difference in the Roughyeds’ two scores reflects how far the ‘Welshmen’ have come in terms of individual skill and ability as well as team construction and know-how, both on defence and with ball in hand.

Two of their number, one of them an Oldhamer would you believe, look worthy of better competition than this.

One-time Oldham ball boy Phil Cowburn, whose parents live in Thornham on the Rochdale-Oldham border, had a solid game at full-back.

Equally impressive was half-back Steven Parry, a hooker by trade, who looked more than capable of playing in any position on the field.

Man-for-man, though, there was no comparison between the two teams and that is why Oldham are pushing strongly for top spot and Raiders are still searching for their first win of the season.

To pick the man of the match you had to look no further than the Oldham trio of Danny Langtree, Danny Bridge and Roughyeds’ new boy Cameron Leeming, a centre of obvious talent and technique, who crowned his home debut with two tries and the Champagne-Moment award.

Second-row forward Langtree, who has looked unstoppable on the charge since returning from his brief spell with Hull FC, scored a 10-minute hat-trick early in the game to take his recent Oldham try tally to 11 in nine games.

Linking up with Leeming on the left side of the attack, Bridge also looked a constant threat in his eighth game back after a long ban.

Roughyeds were not at their best, but they clearly had too much talent for their visitors and led 28-0 at half-time thanks to Langtree’s trio of tries, further touchdowns by Leeming and Jamie Greenwood and four conversions by Gewitt. Six second-half tries were to follow – by Gareth Owen, Harry Maders, Leeming, McCombe and two by Matty Wilkinson, whose lightning speed from dummy-half or the back of the scrum is a joy to behold.

Hewitt finished with six conversions from 11 attempts as Oldham did enough to move up to second place and set up a table-topping thriller at the Recreation Ground this Sunday.

OLDHAM: Holmes; Aaronson, McComb, Leeming, Maders; Brook, Hewitt; Joy, Wilkinson, Law, Bridge, Langtree, Gregson, Subs: Crook, Owen, Whittel, Greenwood.

​RAIDERS: Cowburn; Jennings, Nadabale, Snook, Sabour; Parry, Hunt; Desmond-Walker, Shaw, Herron, Celerino, Evans, Bateman. Subs: Maiden, Rice-Wilson, Walker, Mulkeen.

Referee: Liam Staveley.