Oldham Held At Boundary Park

Oldham Athletic had a difficult weekend as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to fellow strugglers Carlisle United. 

It was the first start for new signing Danny Rowe as he played up front on his own with Zeus de la Paz and Mohamed Maouche also coming into the side.

Rowe was hungry on his debut and he was intent on making his mark. Early on he danced with the ball on the edge of the area and tried to curl an effort into the corner but it went agonisingly wide. 

In the seventh minute, Oldham thought they had taken the lead as Maouche slotted in Desire Segbe Azankpo who finished the ball neatly into the net only to be greeted by the offside flag and the goal was ruled out. 

Carlisle, against the run of play, took the lead in the 25th minute. A corner kick was only half-cleared and after Nathan Thomas found space on the right, his lofted cross was headed in by centre-back Byron Webster at the near post. 

The Latics came back straight away as they looked for an equaliser. Carl Piergianni came close to opening his account, but his header from a free-kick was just wide.

In the 42nd minute, the home fans had something to cheer about as Oldham were level. Jonny Smith picked the ball up on the right-hand side and ran at the defence before cutting in on his favoured left foot and curling an effort into the bottom corner. 

In the second half, Carlisle should’ve scored a second. Thomas again driving through Oldham’s defence and he set up Harry McKirdy but he blasted his effort over the bar. 

In the final minutes, Oldham had their chance to take the three points as Mohamed Sylla crossed low to find Zak Dearnley but he poked the ball wide meaning both teams had to settle for the draw. 

For Oldham, it is the third draw in a row and from the past three games, they would’ve expected better results. They now face a tough run of games starting with Salford away in midweek.

After the game Oldham boss Dino Maamria said: "To be fair it was a good game of football and was end-to-end in the second-half with both teams going for it.

"I was slightly disappointed in the first-half as we didn't take our chances and we gifted them a silly, silly goal which was the first time they got into our attacking third and they scored from it.

"It took a bit of wind out of our sails but we got back into it before half-time and emphasised about the point of staying on the front foot to try and get that all-important second goal as earliest as possible to make the game easier for us."

Photo By: Eddie Garvey