Latics leapfrogged their rivals in the National League table after seeing out a tense game in which Hope scored a stunning third and made the decisive fourth for James Norwood.
The win stretched Oldham’s unbeaten run to eight games in all competitions, and got new manager Micky Mellon off to a winning start.
A week after handing match-winner Harrison McGahey his first start in 13 months at Altrincham last weekend, when he took interim charge of the team, Mellon revealed it was Murray who also put Hope’s name forward as a replacement for the injured Brennan Dickenson.
“I’ll be honest I’ll give the credit to Paul Murray for that one,” said Mellon after being asked about Hope’s inclusion in the starting XI.
“We sit down as a coaching staff and management staff and we decide on a gameplan and the players that we believe might get us a result and he said Hallam Hope.
“I’m delighted I did what I do as a manager and listened to my staff and went along with that, and he scored a terrific goal for us at a really important time.”
And Hope was happy to repay the faith that Murray, and the new manager, put in him.
“He’s a top guy Muzza. I’ve worked with him before at Carlisle and we worked well together. To have someone who is backing you like that is important,” said the forward.
“Coming back off international duty (with Barbados) I missed the first part of the week. I spoke to the gaffer on Thursday and it was positive for me.
“To come, play and score for him today and get the three points is good.”
Hope, who this time last year was recovering from an alleged attack on a club carpark that left him with serious injuries, added: “I’ve not started a game for a long time.
“I don’t really want to talk about (what happened) but it’s been difficult. There have been a lot of dark days, so to come in and be part of it with the new gaffer it’s brilliant.
“I’m just glad I could be part of it again. I’m just looking to look forward, move on and try to get a run going and score some goals and get Oldham and myself where we both belong.
“To start was massive for me personally and even more so to get the win and to score was great.
“It was kind of like Davis Keillor-Dunn’s goal from a couple of years back when we played here and won 1-0.
“It came inside to me, I looked up and I’ve seen the far post free so I’ve just bent it in there.”
After a flick-on for the fourth that Norwood chipped over the keeper, Hope expressed his delighted to be on the right side of a dramatic seven-goal thriller.
“It was a crazy game to be honest, the scoreline kind of shows that. I’m just glad we won and I scored so that’s another positive,” he said.
“I’ve probably not played in a game like that. One minute we were okay and the next minute they scored, it was a bit back and forth so I’m just glad we got the win.
“It’s a proper derby. You can tell by the amount of fans we had here and rivalry. It was just good to get the win for the fans.”
