Former players come back to haunt Latics

EFL League Two: Swindon Town 2-0 Oldham Athletic

It was a frustrating afternoon for Oldham at The County Ground as they were humbled to a 2-0 defeat by league-leading Swindon Town.

Coming into the game Oldham had been unbeaten in their last four league fixtures and their previous fixture was a 1-1 draw at home to Leyton Orient. Swindon came into the game on the back of a six-game winning streak in the league which had sent the club sitting pretty at the top of the table. 

Oldham started the game brightly as they showed no signs of being the underdogs coming into the game. Dave Jones flashed a shot wide early on and Desire Segbe Azankpo had a good chance to open the scoring as he was played in on the left but his tame effort was saved comfortably. 

Swindon, managed by former Latics player and manager Ritchie Wellens, grew into the game as Eoin Doyle flicked the ball into the path of Kaiyne Woolery but the forward smashed his effort over the bar. 

It was a killer blow for Oldham just before half-time as Woolery drove down the right-hand side of the box and he drilled an effort into the far corner giving Oldham stopper De La Paz no chance. 

The second half was a rather cagey affair compared to the first as both teams seemed reluctant to try and land a heavy blow. The Robins nearly doubled their lead on the 60th minute following a free-kick from out wide landed at the feet of Keshi Anderson and he strikes at goal only for Latics captain David Wheater to clear it off the line. 

Eoin Doyle thought he had scored in the 81st minute as he finished smartly but he was greeted by the offside flag and the referee ruled out the goal. 

Although, just minutes later Swindon secured the win as former Oldham player Doyle received the ball deep in the Latics half before he drove towards goal and he curled his effort into the bottom corner to score his 19th goal of the season making him the highest-scoring player in England’s top four leagues. 

The win leaves Oldham in 22nd place just five points above the relegation zone. 

After the game Oldham boss Dino Maamria said:

"We were very disappointed in the first-half that we didn't score. We know we're lacking goals, we know we need someone to put the ball in the back of the net.

"But as a team, I thought we worked and pressed them hard, we stopped them playing, we dominated the ball and the goal came at the wrong time probably with a minute to go before half-time."

He added: "But having said that we didn't change anything in the second-half and we went again on the front foot and I'm not sure how Alex Iacovitti missed the chance to make it 1-1.

"The biggest disappointment was how we gave them that second goal because there was still plenty of time to play.

"I was disappointed in Wheater how he gifted them that second goal to make it a 2-0 game but it was never the full story."
 

Picture by Eddie Garvey