POINTS machine Neil Turley claimed a hat-trick of tries as Leigh ran in 38 unanswered second-half points to hammer Oldham 46-12 at a freezing Hilton Park and strengthen their lead in the Northern Ford Premiership.

The Centurions' 100 per cent record looked in danger when they trailed 12-8 at the break but Oldham wilted alarmingly in the second half after veteran prop Leo Casey was twice sent to the sin bin.

Casey was twice shown the yellow card by referee Karl Kirkpatrick after laying on in the tackle and Leigh took full advantage of their numerical superiority to run their opponents ragged.

Turley, who scored a record 56 tries last season, demonstrated his exceptional finishing to claim three of his side's six second-half tries and also kicked nine goals from 10 attempts to finish with 30 points.

Substitute Andrew Isherwood also touched down twice in the second half and Leigh's other tries came from Simon Svabic and Jon Roper.

"We were not at our best in the first half but we got back on track and full credit most go to the players for the way they picked themselves up," said coach Paul Terzis.

"For 10 or 15 minutes we were stunning, probably the most dominant I've see us play. We were crisp and very sharp."

Oldham, who scored first-half tries through Dave Gibbons and Mark Sibson, looked desperately short of match practice after playing only two games in the first five weeks of the season and they enter the New Year still looking for their first win of the season.

And they could soon be looking for a new coach after Mike Ford revealed afterwards he was considering an offer to join the Irish rugby union.

Rochdale Hornets also maintained their 100 per cent record with a 24-20 win over Hull KR at Spotland, where Sean Cooper scored a hat-trick of tries.

Hornets enjoyed most of the early pressure but were reeling as Rovers ran in two early tries from Alex Smith and Jon Aston.

The visitors held an eight-point lead at half-time but Hornets took control in the second half.

Some superb handling and support play brought tries for Casey Mayberry, James Bunyan and Cooper, who completed his hat-trick.

Batley winger Paul Gleadhill was another hat-trick hero as the Bulldogs collected their second win of the season thanks to a 28-14 success at Chorley, where the game received the go-ahead just 45 minutes before kick-off.