Oldham are potentially vying for promotion from Counties Three ADM Lancashire/Cheshire and Ramsey Rugby Club gave them a proper run for their money before eventually succumbing 27-19 on Saturday.

Dan Kelly missed an early penalty for the Manx side, but the game remained deadlocked until the half-hour. An overthrown lineout was scooped up by Ramsey skipper Josh Corteen who strolled through the defence to score.

As half-time approached, Oldham hit back. A tap-and-go penalty inside the Ramsey 22 saw a big runner crash in to score under the posts. The conversion put them ahead 7-5.

Brayden Roche then received an Oldham punt but was isolated. He was tackled but held onto the ball and received a yellow card for his troubles. A quick tap penalty and some slick hands gave Oldham their second score and a 12-5 half-time lead.

Midway through the second half Ramsey were back on level terms. Jacob Corteen charged down an Oldham clearance, Harvey Callister gathered the loose ball but was stopped just shy of the line.

Scott Kneale was on hand though and he dived in to score. Dan Kelly converted and it was all square at 12-12.

Oldham bagged two quick tries to retake the lead and were 24-12 ahead going into the final five minutes. Ramsey were dealt a second disciplinary blow when Kelly picked up a yellow card following a tip tackle.

Undaunted, the 14 men continued fighting and, when Jake Richmond hit a gap in the Oldham line, his try together with a Kneale conversion pushed Ramsey into bonus point territory, before a late Oldham penalty snatched it away.

Elsewhere, Fleetwood beat Vagabonds 41-7 at Ballafletcher to remain top of the standings, albeit with games in hand for the chasing pack.

Keegan Paverd got the visitors in front after only seven minutes. Fleetwood had won a midfield penalty which Tommy Hibbert rifled into the corner. From the lineout, the ball was moved swiftly left where Paverd popped up in the wide channel to score.

The Vagabonds defence then held firm for quarter of an hour despite Fleetwood enjoying more possession.

In the 23rd minute though, it finally cracked. Centre Brett Whitehead shifted into the 10 channel and took a flat pass at full speed. He sliced through the defence to make it 10-0.

Within three minutes they were in again. Some neat offloading allowed wing Max Bailey to sneak in under the posts to score. Tom Evans converted.

Finally, five minutes before half-time another big Whitehead break got within a few yards of the line and prop Chris Jones was on hand to finish. Evans converted again to leave Fleetwood 24-0 ahead at the break and with a try bonus point safely in the bag.

They picked up another two tries in the opening 10 minutes of the second half. Kieran Butler dived in from close range for the first after his forwards had rumbled close to the Vagas’ try line.

Then Hibbert threw a dummy to cut through the defence to score under the posts. He converted his own try and, even with half an hour remaining, the 36-0 lead looked unassailable.

To their credit Vagas kept going and the one area they did have superiority in was the set scrummage.

They earned an attacking five-metre scrum and after a series of penalties, resets and collapses, referee Joe Phelan awarded them a penalty try.

But that was the extent of the comeback as Fleetwood hooker Jack Brocklehurst sneaked over for a late score to round the day off.