OUT-OF-FORM Oldham limped to the season’s halfway point with their seventh defeat in a row.

They had themselves billed the visit of fellow-strugglers Dewsbury to Bower Fold as a “must-win” game, and fans left for home after the 18-4 defeat feeling it will now take a miracle in the second half of the season to keep their side in the Betfred Championship.

There was no lack of effort or desire – there never has been – but it was the same old story. The harder they tried, the more anxious they got and the more mistakes they made.

Two of Dewsbury’s three converted tries were absolute gifts and the direct result of errors by experienced players – Danny Langtree and Ryan Ince.

Not for the first time in this long spell of doom and gloom, Roughyeds clearly had as much resolve and purpose as their opponents, but they struggled to turn pressure into points and compounded that with a mountain of individual mistakes which gave Dewsbury possession and good field position over and over again.

Lots of players made lots of handling errors of one description or another, but the two costly ones led directly to Dewsbury tries by winger Andy Gabriel in the 13th-minute and then by his centre Will Oakes – this one the killer – midway through the second half.

It took the Rams nine minutes only to go in front with a well-worked try by the other centre, Davey Dixon, thanks to some brilliant handling by 39-year-old half-back Paul Sykes, who also kicked the angled goal.

Only a few minutes later, with Oldham looking strong on exit sets going out of their own red zone, Langtree lost the ball in a three-man tackle and the jet-propelled Gabriel picked up at top speed and raced over in the corner.

Sykes again added the goal and with less than quarter of an hour on the clock, Roughyeds were 12-0 down and up against it.

You had only to witness how sub forwards Tyler Dupree and Matthew Fletcher led the Oldham charge magnificently in the first 20 minutes of the second half to realise the extent of the home side’s determination to get back into the game.

They did it, too, on 59 minutes when the awesome Dupree picked up a stray Oldham pass that had at least gone backwards, pinned his ears back, brushed past 37-year-old Liam Finn and held off full-back Matt Fleming to score a fantastic individual try.

Callum Green, back in the side at full-back, failed to add the extra points, but worse was to follow when Sykes’s twisting, teasing restart kick was fumbled by Max Roberts at his feet.

Oldham survived the resulting pressure and got the ball back only for Ince to spill it and for Oakes to pounce for the crucial try by going over in a double tackle by Lewis Charnock and James Barran.

Sykes goaled for an 18-4 lead and that was that.

Coach Matt Diskin made several changes to the side beaten at Newcastle last week, recalling Green at full-back, switching Ince from wing to centre to fill-in for injured Ben Heaton, re-introducing Ben Holcroft on the wing, moving Charnock from half-back to hooker and bringing back club captain Gareth Owen at half-back.

On the bench he brought back the powerful Dupree, who was outstanding in the second half.

It was a cracking comeback for him personally, but another desperately disappointing day for Roughyeds.

Oldham: Green; Brierley, Ince, Roberts, Holcroft; Owen, Barran; Nelmes, Charnock, Kirk, Bent, Langtree, Reilly. Subs: Gregory, Fletcher, Dupree, Pick.

Dewsbury: Fleming; Gabriel, Oakes, Dixon, Carr; Sykes, Finn; Margin, Butterworth, Beckett, Liu, Knowles, Annakin. Subs: Speakman, Martin, Stevens, Hall.

Referee: Matt Rossleigh.