10th November 1999
10th November 1999 LOCAL police could be facing a major security alert when Swansea City visit Athletic in the FA Cup second round. Cardiff's cup win last night means that both South Wales clubs are due in the North-West for ties a week on Saturday. And the arch-rivals have a history of violent clashes.
As they would be taking identical routes for most of their journeys to Oldham and Bury — and ending up only around 12 miles apart — police could order that one of the ties is rescheduled. They will work closely with the four clubs involved and do everything possible to avoid rival fans meeting in railway stations or motorway services. The last time Swansea played at Boundary Park, a dozen of their supporters were arrested and charged with violent disorder. They were accused of causing £500 of damage to a Royton chip shop after their side was knocked out of the Coca-Cola Cup. Both Swansea and Cardiff have had bans imposed on their travelling support. Strict conditions and security checks are also imposed by Welsh police when tickets are issued for away games. Meanwhile, Athletic's revival continued to gather pace last night when they beat Millwall 2-1 at Boundary Park.
The performance delighted manager Andy Ritchie, whose team has now lost only one game in the last eight. Ritchie said: "I was very pleased with the way we took the game to them. "It was important we did that because Millwall are one of the better sides in the division and they are very well balanced. "It might not be pretty every week because we are doing our best to climb up the table. But last night we played some great football. "We must make sure we live up to those standards when Colchester come here on Sunday for what will be another hard game."
SCORING goals and winning games are two of the happiest habits in football. Athletic have found the first and, after this hugely entertaining victory over Millwall, they are well on the way to acquiring the second. Andy Ritchie’s reborn team have now found the net in 13 consecutive matches — a remarkable feat after their atrocious effort at the start of the season. Thanks to supersub Steve Whitehall’s 88th-minute clincher, they are also on a run of five wins in eight games which, on this form, could well be extended. Whitehall’s goal was a beauty and confirmed the view that the predator’s nose for a kill has not been weakened by injuries or the passage of time. The striker, who turns 33 next month, has now scored three times in four games, despite being on the field for only 75 minutes. Yet, while Whitehall took the plaudits, this was another highly encouraging team effort from Athletic. Drive and industry are nothing new from this collection of honest professionals, but last night they played the kind of passing football which would trouble anyone in the division. What’s more, despite the best efforts of dangerous opponents, they channelled that assurance in almost all the right directions. Millwall are a useful side who made it clear why they had won their last three away games.
Apart from a couple of flaps in defence — and, admittedly, a soft goal — Athletic still managed to hold the upper hand for most of an end-to-end contest. At the heart of it all was a terrific display from Athletic’s midfield. John Sheridan gave a masterclass in long and short-range passing, Lee Duxbury never stopped foraging and Paul Rickers found the magical ability to be in three places at once. They were well supplemented by wing-backs Neil Adams and Andrew Holt, both of whom joined in to finally squeeze the life out of the visitors. Craig Dudley was again a livewire up front, while Scott McNiven’s willingness to charge out of defence summed up his side’s commitment to an attacking game. Millwall played their part fully and could consider themselves unlucky to leave without a point. Though Tony Warner became the latest goalkeeper to save his best form for Boundary Park, they were fluent going forward and, in impressive midfielder Tim Cahill, had a player with the knack of supporting his front men at just the right time. Athletic, ignoring any distractions from this week’s events off the field, made just the start they needed with a goal after 12 minutes. When McNiven’s long pass from defence caught Millwall cold, the turbo-charged Dudley set off in hot pursuit. He outpaced Stuart Nethercott and, as Warner dived at his feet, reached the ball in the nick of time to lift it into the far corner for his third goal in five games.
While the strike was more reminiscent of 1980s Wimbledon than 1970 Brazil, it typified the difference Dudley has made to Athletic’s front line. The hosts almost made it 2-0 shortly afterwards when McNiven’s powerful run ended with a foul 25 yards from goal, Sheridan’s subsequent free-kick being tipped over by Warner. Athletic, with the double boost of recent results and an early goal, continued to dominate and Rickers was inches away from Sheridan’s delightful chip. Warner then made a fine save from Mark Allott’s 30-yard piledriver before Cahill came close to a Millwall equaliser after errors by Gary Kelly and Mark Hotte presented him with a good opening. Sheridan’s long-range shot was as near as any to a second goal and, as has been the case in recent games, the impression grew that Athletic needed to capitalise on their supremacy. Millwall almost made them pay in the 50th minute when a driven cross — or was it an ingenious shot? — crashed against the bar from the boot of Neil Harris. Kelly made a superb point-blank stop from Cahill after substitute Paul Shaw barged his way through and, with Shaw making a difference to Millwall’s frontline, the visitors began to look the more likely scorers. Warner pulled off a stunning fingertip save from Dudley’s looping header, but Millwall found their equaliser after 62 minutes when Harris rose unmarked at the near post to nod in Steven Reid’s left-wing corner.
It was now a cracking encounter from which it was hard to pick a winner. Warner was again at full stretch to deny Rickers, while Kelly also did well to palm away Reid’s angled shot. Athletic’s chance of victory looked to disappear when Dudley beat the offside trap and advanced on goal, only for Warner to excel himself again. Yet signs are emerging that Athletic have developed a small but significant ruthless streak. With time running out, Rickers set off on a dynamic dash down the left and delivered a low cross into the path of Whitehall. The finish — a precise, pick-your-spot sidefoot inside Warner’s near post — was nothing short of perfect. Whitehall’s goal was Athletic’s fourth last-gasp intervention in the space of a month, a feature which has brought them seven precious points. What a pity that, because of that awful start to the campaign, they are still nearer the bottom of the table than the top.
| OLDHAM 2 MILLWALL 1 | ||
| Steve Whitehall stretched Oldham's run to one defeat in seven games with a superb late strike to clinch a 2-1 win over Milwall. The veteran striker had only been on the pitch for eight minutes when he hit the winner with two minutes to go. The home side had earlier gone in front when youngster Craig Dudley scored his third goal in seven starts. Millwall worked tirelessly for the equaliser and that came via a Neil Harris header in the 62nd minute. But Oldham weren't to be denied and the win saw them climb to 15th in the table - their highest position of the season. | ||
Many opinions have been thrown at this
decision to buy the club and one comment in particular summed this sale
up, that it is a "side-step" rather than it being a way forward. However,
in defence of David Brierley, I must comment that at least an approach
is now being taken. Whether the view of the board is that now JW Lees are
supposedly out of the picture, the fans will be content with that, is anyone's
guess. However up until now we have never been lied to by the present Chairman.
We have been told about events, maybe not all about the event, but eventually
the truth will come out once the time is right. And I for one believe that
will be through Mr Brierley and not through rumours and the Oldham Chronicle.
I feel the present board have made
this decision based on a number of reasons. i) The board wish to
keep the shares within Oldham Athletic and allowing the
board to continue their position of
controller within the club, rather than the reigns being relinquished to
a lesser supporting or caring owner, especially in light of the ground
sale.
ii) The board appear to be genuine
fans of Oldham Athletic which do honestly want the best for the club (rather
than Manchester City supporting Bernard Manning Jnr.). David Brierley who
once appeared to hide in the shadow, has in all fairness been surprisingly
and bluntly truthful, whether it is what
us fans wish to hear. And that has
gone to the distance of taking part in a meeting with the Stop The Rot
pressure group, a feat which I doubt many
other Chairman would do.
iii) The JW Lees situation has gone
on long enough. Although it is their inadequecy to find a consortium with
the money needed to push this club
forward, two things spring to mind.
First of all, why did they not accept the reasonable bid from Glyn Adams'
Consortium when the club was supposedly
up for sale and Mr Uri Geller was
in the hunt (November 98)? And secondly, for all the mismanagenments JW
Lees have thrown upon Oldham Athletic, their
final and parting gesture is to sell
the shares to the Board of the club, with the obvious realisation that
no more money would be available for the
team. Another case of renaiging on
a deal. (This rightly mentioned in previous contributions.)
iv) This I feel is the most important
and deciding factor however. The bad publicity that has come to light surrounding
JW Lees involvement with the club has generated a certain feel for potential
buyers. Not only do they see our dismay at the owners, they will themselves
wish not to be targeted if any potential deal does not occur, as Glyn Adams
was. But more importantly, the shinanigans which JW Lees have created in
the selling of the club has put many interests off. Such as being in several
stages of "advanced talks" only for them to break down and the bid be turfed
out. This has happened regularly. Why should these bidders bother if they
are dealing with a poor organisation like JW Lees?
Now that the new shareholders are in a postition to be spoken to, rather than JW Lees, the hope is that more fruitful bidders will be searched for. Advanced talks shouldn't occur until the deal is ready to be signed. The fact that the board will deal with any possible sale from now on, can only be a good thing for potential investors and therefore hopefully now, more interest in the shares will be made. The know they will not be messed about like JW Lees did.
Therefore I feel that this deal even though it is a side-step, a not a forward one, this is still a deal that brings more positivity than negitivity. JW Lees have been the butt of all our problems closely followed by Mr Ian Stott, and now at least the weedkiller is begining to work. We all know there is still a long way to go, however my view of doom and gloom has changed slightly, in the knowledge that we were and possibly still are a club heading for extinction, but at least now our destiny is in our own hands. And plus I prefer to chant "Sack the board" instead of "Lees Out". In some ways there is less politics involved that way.