ATHLETIC have scrapped their plans to lodge an appeal with the Football League after having two men sent off at Wrexham on Saturday. Centre-backs Shaun Garnett and Mark Hotte both took early baths at the Racecourse Ground in a match which left manager Andy Ritchie seething. Shortly after the game, Ritchie hit out at referee Phil Dowd and revealed he would be watching a tape of the incidents which saw Garnett and Hotte receive two yellow cards apiece. He was considering asking the authorities to look into each case. But today, having seen them on video, Ritchie said he would be taking no further action. "I have had a chat with Shaun and he doesn’t think the pictures show anything that would really help him,” Ritchie explained.

“It doesn’t show much in his favour, so we will let the matter rest. The same applies to Mark Hotte because his second yellow probably came from the worst tackle of the game. “But the trainers were hardly needed all afternoon and that says a lot about the way the game was played — and probably about the way it was refereed.” Garnett and Hotte will serve one-match suspensions in the same match, a week on Saturday, when Athletic are at Bournemouth. They were the club’s first red cards of the season, but Garnett is also treading a tightrope for the number of bookings he has collected. Following Saturday’s 3-1 defeat, Athletic have still to win a league match since the opening day of the season. Ritchie admits he is worried by the poor run of form. And he could make changes for tomorrow night’s trip to high-flying Reading.

Defensive players look most vulnerable as Athletic have already conceded 13 goals in six league fixtures. They leaked four against Peterborough and three against both Walsall and Wrexham. They have yet to keep a clean sheet in the league and Ritchie said: “We definitely need to tighten up tomorrow.” The defiant manager added: “Things aren’t going as well as they might be at the moment, so it’s time for us to dig in. “Reading are going well and they had a good result at the weekend (beating Brentford 4-0). But we’ll roll up our sleeves and be ready for a tough game.” Stuart Thom today signed a two-year contract, with an option for a third year, at Scunthorpe United. Although the big centre-back has a slight injury at the moment, there were no hitches in his transfer, which is thought have gone through for around £20,000.

ATHLETIC’S day trip to Wales ended in misery and disarray after a defeat which will haunt them for weeks to come. The bare facts of another poor performance — leaving them with one point out of 15 and a place just above the relegation zone — hardly scratch the surface of an all-action afternoon. In a contest which should have finished with double the goals and half the bookings, Athletic had two men sent off for receiving two yellow cards. Shaun Garnett and Mark Hotte got their marching orders in the second half, with many people in the ground — including, it seemed, some of his team-mates — not realising Hotte had seen red. The defender went off immediately after Wrexham’s third goal, the killer blow coming when Athletic had hauled themselves back into it through Carlo Corazzin. The visitors gave it everything, despite having one of those days when nothing went their way. But the table makes unpleasant reading and Wrexham, who had lost all three of their previous home games, eventually came out worthy winners.

Athletic haven’t been looking secure in the league and, to their cost, it was the same story here. The pace of two-goal Trinidadian Hector Sam was a constant problem, even for Hotte, but their defence also contributed to its own downfall. The three centre-backs — Garnett, Hotte and Paul Jones — sometimes looked on different wavelengths. They were dragged out of position and, at times, one stepped out while the others stood their ground. It allowed Wrexham to get behind them too often and gave them the look of three unrelated individuals instead of a single, cohesive unit. Since he was given the run-around against Peterborough last month, Jones has been having a particularly hard time finding form. His confidence looks low and, having been taken off in the 54th minute, the dedicated Scouser could now be under pressure for his place. Barry Prenderville’s arrival won’t do much for his peace of mind, either. But up-coming bans for his defensive partners might save Jones from the axe. Until Athletic sort out their problems at the back — and two clean sheets against Huddersfield prove they can do it — they will continue to struggle for much-needed points.

As there is so little to choose between most teams in the second division, none can afford to begin every match with a self-inflicted disadvantage. Having beaten Huddersfield so convincingly in midweek, unchanged Athletic again lined up with Scott McNiven in central midfield. Prenderville was on the bench at Steve Whitehall’s expense. Wrexham gave a debut to Chris Killen, an 18-year-old striker on loan from Manchester City, and the youngster played a big part in Athletic’s demise. Wrexham began with the upper hand and, to the dismay of their opponents, took a controversial lead in the ninth minute. When Darren Ferguson sent a pass to the left of Athletic’s box, the linesman’s flag was raised for, as it later turned out, a foul on striker Sam. But the flag immediately went down and Athletic believed an offside had been given — and then rescinded — before Sam beat Gary Kelly as Jones made a vain attempt to clear. Though manager Andy Ritchie leapt off the bench in protest, the goal was given after a glance of consultation from the officials.

Athletic were rattled. And Wrexham could have taken advantage a minute later when Sam was left unmarked to put a decent chance past the post. On the occasions Ritchie’s men did get forward, they exposed some cracks in the Wrexham defence. Lee Duxbury should have done better from a Mark Allott cross, Andrew Holt’s header was brilliantly kept out by ‘keeper Kristian Rogers and, from the resulting corner, Allott couldn’t get his head to the ball when any touch surely would have brought the equaliser. Two Carlos Edwards snapshots gave Kelly his first employment for a while and, having regained the initiative, the hosts snatched their second two minutes after the break. It was a soft goal to concede as Ferguson laid the ball into Killen’s feet from wide on Wrexham’s left. The youngster controlled without a challenge and was allowed a couple more touches before firing smartly into the corner from 12 yards. Although McNiven could have pulled one back straight away, Athletic’s need of a reply saw them switch to 4-4-2, with Craig Dudley on up front and Allott dropping slightly deeper.

Duxbury and Corazzin both went close, but the game took a dramatic turn when Garnett was dismissed in the 67th minute. The big defender’s first booking was a petty affair involving some push and shove with Killen at a free-kick. When he brought down Sam by the corner flag only seven minutes later, the result was inevitable. Athletic were now second best, but they set up a tense finale with an 83rd-minute strike created by sub Matthew Tipton. The Welshman delivered an inch-perfect cross from the right and Corazzin arrived to glance home from six yards for his third goal in seven games. The outcome was suddenly in doubt. Yet Athletic contrived to shoot themselves in both feet as the final minute approached.After Hotte fouled Ferguson on the halfway line, play was allowed to go on as Sam bore down on Kelly’s goal. Though the ‘keeper produced a fine save, Athletic made a total shambles of clearing the danger and Sam picked his way through the chaos to stroke his second goal into an empty net. And that still wasn’t all. Referee Phil Dowd, who should be given credit for playing the initial advantage, called over Hotte and showed him his second yellow card for the foul on Ferguson. Hotte was off amid the confusion before the game restarted, people began counting blue shirts and, in the end, the whistle couldn’t come soon enough for Athletic.

MANAGER Andy Ritchie took a swipe at the match officials after nine-man Athletic made it five league games without a win. Ritchie was furious with referee Phil Dowd and his two assistants, believing they were partly to blame for his team’s defeat. He said: “There wasn’t a bad tackle in the game, but two players were sent off and too many others were booked. “People were going in the book for absolutely nothing and the red cards were both bad decisions. “You can draw your own conclusions from that — I’d better not say too much or I’ll get into trouble.” Ritchie also claimed that a linesman “had a go” at Shaun Garnett when the defender was dismissed in the 67th minute.

He insisted: “The lads said he had a go, and that is totally out of order. Linesmen are there to officiate and nothing else. “But officials hide behind locked doors for half an hour after games these days. You can’t even have a chat with them.” The manager was pleased with Athletic’s spirit but admitted they were in need of a morale-boosting victory. He added: “You can’t fault them for effort or attitude, especially in the second half when we were down to 10 men. “We were the better side then, but we conceded another sloppy goal when we had the chance of a point. “I thought we were lucky to be only 1-0 down at half-time, but we kept creating chances and things were conspiring against us. “Of course I’m worried. We have a hard game at Reading on Tuesday night and we need to take at least a point from there.”

Wrexham boss Brian Flynn had a moment of concern when Carlo Corazzin’s goal breathed life into Athletic. He said: “What Oldham do particularly well is get good-quality balls into the danger area. “They never stop trying and I was worried when it was 2-1. “But I’m relieved we’ve got our first home win as it lifts some of the pressure. “It was a must-win situation and the players responded well.”

Reading manager Alan Pardew is likely to name an unchanged side for the visit of Oldham. The Royals handed out a 4-0 thrashing to Brentford at the weekend and Pardew was full of praise for hat-trick hero Jamie Cureton and his centre-back pairing of Barry Hunter and Adrian Viveash. Midfielder Neil Smith came on as a substitute for Phil Parkinson on Saturday, but is not yet fit enough to start after a month out with injury. Pardew is keeping his feet on the ground after an excellent weekend, saying: "It's vital that we win against Oldham because the next challenge is always the biggest."

Oldham boss Andy Ritchie has no injury worries, and looks set to name the same squad as the one which lost 3-1 at Wrexham last Saturday. However, there might be some changes to the starting line-up as Ritchie tries to find the formula that will secure his side a few results. He said: "At the moment we are either very good or very bad. We can't seem to string two good games together. Against Huddersfield we defended very well, but at other times we have looked as watertight as a colander. "We need consistency but we just can't put our finger on it. It's the same system and we are using the same players so we're as baffled as everyone else."

Out-of-favour hitman Steve Whitehall is being tracked by non-league Chester City. The veteran striker, who is being allowed to leave Boundary Park on a free, couldn't even make the squad for the Wrexham game. 33-year-old Whitehall has been told he can no longer be guaranteed a place following the arrival of Carlo Corazzin from Northampton. Chester were relegated to the conference last season and their manager Graham Barrow. He knows all about Whitehall because he had him under his wing when he was the boss at Rochdale. Whitehall had the best success of his career at Spotland and finished top-scorer in five of his six seasons. He netted over 90 goals for Dale after his £20,000 move from Southport in 1991. The forward was sold to Mansfield for the same fee but went to Oldham a year later for £50,000 after bagging 24 league goals for the Stags. He managed only eleven goals in total last year and is now surplus to requirements.

Wrexham Web site "The Webbed Robin"

If only every Wrexham performance was like this one! Today's Wrexham would not have lost to Mansfield in a month of Sundays - I didn't go to that game but the contrast must have been enormous. Credit as well to those Wrexham supporters that went to both games - they got what they deserved today, a performance full of determination and confidence.

Although the inclusion of two new personnel into the side couldn't have been the reason for the improvement in form, both Paul Barrett and Chris Killen gave impressive displays. Paul was returning from a long layoff having been injured at Oxford last season whilst Chris was our new loan signing from Manchester City - the New Zealander coming in place of the suspended Craig Faulconbridge.

One of the major differences between today and other games I've witnessed this season (Wigan and Bristol at home) was the fact that our two full-backs looked at ease in their positions. Mark McGregor seemed comfortable playing at left back, a position that he is getting used to. At the other flank, Lee Roche played very well and his attacking runs caused problems for the Oldham defence. Hopefully this is a sign of Lee settling into the side having had some previously indifferent games.

With Brian Carey still injured with a back injury the centre back pairing of Roberts and Ridler were solid and put in a number of solid and timely interceptions. When the need was called for, Kristian Rogers put in some good saves capped by one save that could only be described as brilliant.

With our midfield in control, under the leadership of captain Ferguson, our front men of Edwards on the wing and Sam and Killen in the middle had a field day and clearly enjoyed the amount of possession they had. Indeed for large periods of the match they were playing for fun. For the home supporter it was a real joy to watch.

Having sang the praises of the whole Wrexham side, it must be said that both sides contributed to a very open game. It was end to end stuff for most of the 90 minutes with Oldham reported to have had a creditable six goal attempts. Good they were but nothing compared with Wrexham's 18 attempts!

The game saw a number of talking points, the main ones being whether Wrexham's first goal should have been allowed and the fact that the Latics finished the game with 9 men. Oldham's manager Andy Ritchie complained about both factors but he also said that Oldham were the better side which said more about Ritchie's distorted view of the game than it did about the game itself.

The opening goal came early in the game. Not too early however for Oldham not to have had the chance to show their studs in a number of dodgy tackles.

Anyway, in the ??th minute, Darren Ferguson and Hector Sam combined well with short passes to free the Trinidadian into the box and beyond the line of defenders. Immediately the assistant linesman's flag went up, presumably for offside in the centre of the box. Sam, down the right, coolly slotted the ball into goal with a little help from a defender. Following a nod and a wink to his assistant, the referee indicated a goal since the offside player was not interfering with play. There wasn't much arguments from the Oldham players but the supporters were a lot less happy about the decision.

Mark Hotte showed his frustrations at things by hacking Hector Sam to the ground. Despite what Mr Ritchie says that was definitely worthy of a booking and well done Mr Leake for showing the yellow. Oldham eventually stopped playing the dirty game, swapping the foul play for football and they were a far better side for that.

An example was a Latic's header that was heading all the way to the top left hand corner. This before Kristian Rogers produced an outstanding save to keep us in the lead. Absolutely top notch.

At the other end, Hector Sam was rarely out of the action. He should have scored with a header following a pin-point cross from Carlos Edwards and also went close with a shot come cross fired across goal.

"Not a bad foul in the game" stated Andy Ritchie after the match. He must have been queuing for the hot dogs when Paul Jones committed a bookable offence against Carlos Edwards.

Following Craig Faulconbridge's indiscipline against Wigan, it was disappointing that both Mark McGregor and Carlos Edwards were booked for kicking the ball away. Chris Killen also received a similar booking but that one, unlike the other two, was unjust. Anyway, a small minus in a see of pluses.

Oldham captain Lee Duxbury was their best player and always keen to push forward - a 20 yarder from him went close. Ex-Wrexham target Carlo Corazzin also looked dangerous. Our centre-back pairing and Kristian Rogers were up to the job although they were rarely allowed to relax.

One of Wrexham's most worrying time was when Hector Sam seemed to be badly injured, having slipped following a challenge. This was much to the amusement of the visiting supporters although it was Samba Sam that was to have the last laugh.

The half finished with Wrexham in the ascendancy - Carlos Edwards twice forcing goalkeeper Gary Kelly into action. Kelly also had to smother a long-shot from Mark McGregor although this was after the defender had been called into action at the other end by heading over the Wrexham crossbar to avert danger.

The first half was a tough one to match but the second half was even better. Only two minutes had gone when a quick Wrexham break resulted in Chris Killen picking the ball up from about 25 yards out. He progressed goalbound and the Oldham defence seemed scared of challenging as the striker set himself up with a left-footed opportunity that hammered the back of the net. What Aussie Alssopp can do, Kiwi Killen can do better!

That goal was awful defending but we almost matched them seconds later as a Latic's was clear through on goal but Kristian Rogers produced an excellent save to keep us two ahead.

Wrexham then began to take the mickey out of our visitors. Killen had a free header saved from 8 yards and Hector Sam's trickery set himself up with a good chance that flew beyond the right hand upright.

Oldham had two penalty appeals declined in quick succession - claims for handball and pushing being declined and rightly so in my totally unbiased opinion.

There was more end to end stuff than at Flushing Meadows as Gareth Owen headed straight at Kelly and a Latic's overhead effort went narrowly over.

Carlos Edwards and Hector Sam showed great understanding with Oldham lucky to concede nothing more than a corner. Luck swung the other way when Kristian Rogers had a clearance blocked by a Latic's but flew to safety. Duxbury headed narrowly past soon afterwards.

In the 67th minute it was bye bye Shaun Garnett when a hack at Hector Sam earned the ex-Swansea and Chester City player his second yellow and the early bath.

Against 10 men Wrexham should have extended their lead with both Mark McGreogor and Hector Sam doing very well to get into heading positions from close range but unable to complete the task. Carlos Edwards made up for this booking by contributing significantly in three excellent moves, the cheekiest of which involved Kelly denying us from "having a laugh".

The enjoyment dipped a bit when Oldham pulled one back and not totally undeserved - at least I'll agree with Mr Ritchie on that one. The goal looked like and inswinging cross that missed everyone but I'm informed that Corazzin had a touch to steer the ball as it travelled towards the opposite left hand corner.

Oldham were on the up by now, despite the numerical disadvantage in personnel. Kristian Rogers got a bit of a knock when a corner came in, the ball ending up shaving the upright.

It was all over when our third went in and a weird goal it was too. 'Keeper Kelly did well to palm away a Hector Sam shot on the break. The move wasn't over though and Kelly's booted clearance came off a player and soared into the heavens before descending back in the penalty area. Kelly made a pig's ear of catching the spinning ball and Sam picked the ball up, rounded a defender and slotted into the empty net. A comedy of defensive errors and a difficult goal to describe.

In the confusion or maybe it was the aftermath, Mark Hotte was spotted by the referee to do something worthy of a yellow card. What it was I don't know but Hotte didn't have long to spend in the early bath before being joined by the rest of his dejected team mates.