Oldham were beaten 48-10 at Batley Bulldogs where they were forced to play without several senior forwards, for various reasons, and then suffered the early loss of Danny Bridge with a knee injury.
Bridge, hurt in the first tackle he had received during Oldham's first set, went off, never to return, after quarter of an hour -- and only ten minutes later centre Ben Heaton followed him with a damaged ankle.
Gareth Owen, also hurt in the early stages, was taken out of the firing line at half-time in a bad day at the office for Matt Diskin's men.
Oldham went into the game without Phil Joy, Martyn Reilly, Shaun Pick and Liam Kirk and to lose Bridge so early as well proved a blow too many.
A hat trick from home winger Alex Hurst saw the hosts home after Ashton had looked comfortable for most of the first half at the F.Ball Community Stadium on Saturday.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS have continued their mission to overhaul Manchester United’s finances by announcing that the club would be increasing season ticket prices by around 5%, an average of £2.50 per game.