Harris felt his players were below par in a goalless first half at Boundary Park but had no complaints with how clinical they were after the break.

Ben Knight broke the deadlock in the 55th minute from the penalty spot. He sent Mat Hudson the wrong way after Ryan Woods was adjudged to have brought down Louis Appere, who added the other two goals to lift Cambridge up to second in the League Two table.

Harris said: “I was delighted with the second half. We weren’t good enough in the first half and I told the players so at half-time, not because we gave any chances away, not because we didn’t compete or didn’t try. We did, we were just half a yard off in certain areas of the pitch, turned the ball over too cheaply, didn’t quite move the mechanicals quickly enough, there wasn’t enough end product.

“I still thought we were the better in the first half but without being the best version of us. So there were a few strong words at half-time, and I thought the second-half performance was outstanding. Not because it was free-flowing, not because we didn’t dominate or have 500 passes.

“Oldham don’t let you have that sort of game. They changed their shape to press us more aggressively, so we had to find different ways. We identified space, we played forward slightly quicker than we have been, ran forward a little bit quicker than we have been and forced them into turnovers and counter-attack opportunities.

“It was a really strong second-half performance and I’d just like to praise the players for their response at half-time.”

After making the breakthrough from 12 yards, Knight was involved as Appere scored twice in seven minutes.

The first came on the hour after James Brophy nodded down Knight’s cross for Appere to tap in from close range.

Appere wrapped it up in the 67th minute, finishing clinically across Hudson at the end of a quick counter attack that Knight led.

“I’m frustrated, angry and disappointed with us,” said Oldham manager Micky Mellon.

“The goals that we gave away are not acceptable. We completely lost our way.

“We have let the fans down today with our performance and we acknowledge that and we’re frustrated.

“Fair play to Cambridge, I think they did the things that were necessary to try to win a game of football without being scintillating.

“But it’s not acceptable for an Oldham team to capitulate like that.”