PATRICK Ah Van scored his 1000th career point in a resounding 40-20 victory over Hunslet, as Roughyeds remained unbeaten at home.
The veteran winger, who has filled in at a number of positions this season, has shown no signs of slowing down as he dived over for two more, taking his try total to ten already this season.
Oldham started slow, but were still leading at half-time and grew from strength to strength and never seemed to tire against Hunslet, who simply couldn’t keep up in the second half.
The introduction of Samy Kibula and Pat Moran contributed to Oldham’s relentless attacks, as well as the nippy Sean Slater who is always a threat off the bench.
Gregg McNally, on his 300th career appearance, was deadly in attack after producing some great well-placed passes for a couple of Oldham tries.
Martyn Ridyard was back to his best and his kicking game was faultless with not one conversion missed.
There was little to separate the two sides in the first half with the lead changing hands some six times as both sides looked to gain a foothold in this crucial game.
Early on, Hunslet were piling on the pressure, aided by numerous six again’s, but Oldham fought back and were deadly every time they came towards Hunslet’s line.
It was Oldham’s knock-on the first tackle, just metres from their own line, which allowed Hunslet the first score of the game through Jack Render.
From the scrum, Oldham defended tackle after tackle, but after a couple repeat sets, Hunslet finally found Jack Render in space to score.
They weren’t in front for long and, off the back of some good play by Luke Nelmes, Deane Meadows set Matty Wilkinson away to score left of the posts.
Hunslet levelled not long after through a Matty Beharrell penalty, before Oldham came again.
Another sublime Martyn Ridyard kick, as well as a great kick chase by Jordan Paga, forced Joe Burton to knock on just in front of his own line.
In the subsequent set, Oldham overloaded men on the right, and Gregg McNally put in an inch-perfect lofted pass to set Joe Hartley away for a try in the corner.
The lead switched hands again, though, and it was Nathan Conroy who levelled the scores after Oldham couldn’t get a hold of Burton who ran the length of the field, after collecting Oldham’s kick on the last tackle.
But then, something sublime happened. Hunslet were deep in Oldham territory, looking to score again and, out of nowhere, Connor Carr wrestled the ball in a one-on-one steal and galloped all the way to score under the sticks for a length of the field try.
Hunslet then took the lead through a Johnny Campbell try just after the break, but that was as good as it got for the Parksiders.
A Ridyard penalty levelled the scores at 20-20 and, shortly after, he produced a top class deceptive pass which set Ah Van off through a gap to score his first try of the afternoon.
Then came the 1000 point milestone, Oldham shifted the ball out left with pace and Ah Van couldn’t be stopped in the corner.
Oldham were hungry for more and their pressure was rewarded when Zac Baker pounced on a Jordan Paga grubber kick – a move that has been successful on a number of occasions this year.
Frustration set in for Hunslet, with ten minutes left on the clock, when they conceded back to back penalties with Sam Hallas subsequently sin-binned.
Even though the game was in the bag, both Paga and Kian Morgan produced a magnificent defensive effort to prevent a late Jack Render try.
Roughyeds landed 40 points on Hunslet who had the best defensive record in League One in a game where they could have inflicted much more damage.
If Stuart Littler’s men continue to perform in this way, they will struggle to stay under the radar for much longer.
Scorers:
Oldham: goals, Ridyard 8/8; tries, Wilkinson, Hartley, Carr, Ah Van x2, Baker,
Hunslet: goals, Beharrell 4/5; tries, Render, Conroy, Campbell
Teams:
OLDHAM: McNally; Hartley, Carr, Morgan, Ah Van; Ridyard, Paga; Nelmes, Wilkinson, Meadows, Hirst, Baker, Whittel. Subs: Slater, Kibula, Newton, Moran (all used). 18th Man: Thornton.
HUNSLET: Burton; Render, Ryder, Goddard, Campbell; Beharrel, Sweeting; S. Hallas, Conroy, Crossley, Jordan-Roberts, York, Knowles. Subs: H. Hallas, Syme, Wray, Wheeler (all used). 18th Man: Barcoe
Referee: Luke Bland; HT: 18-14; Pens: 8-3; Att: 361
