A 20-YEAR-OLD trialist from Finland will play for Athletic's reserves tonight in the Pontins League match at Port Vale. Tero Karhu, a left-sided midfield player, is out of contract at Premier League club FinnPa and will spend the next two weeks at Boundary Park. Karhu will be joined by defender Richard Graham, who has been out of action for seven weeks with a back injury. The only cure for the problem was rest, but he returned to full training last week. Jordan Tait continues his comeback after a hernia operation, while all five of the substitutes for last night's first-team game will also play. There is still no room for David McNiven, Iain Swan or Ian McLean, the three players available on free transfers.

Reserves: Miskelly, Tait, Graham, Futcher, Roberts, Boshell, Walsh, Innes, Karhu, Beavers, Tipton. Subs: Campbell, Smith, McLaughlin, Sugden.

IF anyone was happy to see the lights go out on Athletic last night, it must have been Gary Kelly. The Athletic goalkeeper had made a dreadful error of judgement in handing Stoke the 1-0 lead which eventually counted for nothing. Just three minutes before the match was brought to a halt, Kelly chose to catch a long Stoke clearance instead of watching it drift out for a goal-kick. He failed to slow his momentum, carried the ball out for a corner and, after the kick had been helped on, was powerless to stop Ben Petty firing past him for the only goal of a truncated night. That came after 53 minutes and was at the centre of the most sustained pressure the game had produced. It was an otherwise insipid affair, although Stoke’s breakthrough would soon have forced Athletic to go on the offensive. There were changes to the home line-up, with John Sheridan rested and Shaun Garnett’s slight calf-muscle injury not being risked. Craig Dudley slotted in at right-wing back, Paul Jones made his second start in the middle of defence and Neil Adams played in central midfield. Ben Futcher and, after a fourth-month absence, Paul Beavers were named among the substitutes. Stoke were without on-loan Liverpool man Frode Kippe, leaving the small matter of one Norwegian, one Swede (who wore gloves) and two Icelanders, including £600,000 signing Brynjar Gunnarsson.

Oh, and there was a Bermudan, too, in striker Kyle Lightbourne. It was Dudley who fashioned the first chance when, in the 17th minute, his curling cross found its way to Mark Allott. But Athletic’s top scorer was quickly put under pressure and couldn’t control his shot. Paul Connor wasted an opening for Stoke before a rare flowing move gave Lightbourne a clear sight of goal. He set himself and looked poised to open the scoring, only for the finish to be sliced woefully high and wide. Athletic struggled to get behind a well-organised visiting defence, with the result that crosses were being delivered from much deeper than the forward men required. Although possession was shared pretty equally, it was Stoke who shaded it in terms of penetration. They almost proved it with a vengeance after 38 minutes when Connor’s knock-down found Lightbourne closing in on goal. Kelly, however, was quickly off his line to make a brave point-blank save. It was one of only three shots on target in 56 minutes of football, none of which were credited to Athletic. They will have to raise their game if they are to turn the tables in the replay.

THOUSANDS of disappointed football fans were left in the dark last night, when a power cut at Boundary Park forced a cup tie to be postponed. More than 1,000 homes around the Latics' ground were also affected by the underground cable fault, which plunged the area into darkness for more than an hour. Athletic were losing 1-0 to Stoke City, in the second round of the Auto Windscreens Shield, when the floodlights failed after 56 minutes. Club officials at first believed the fault could be sorted out quickly, and the 3,673 fans were asked to be patient. However, a telephone call to Norweb confirmed that it would be at least 20 minutes before an engineer could attend, and possibly a further hour before power was restored. Finally, at 8.56 pm, the match was called off. Emergency exit lights, activated as soon as the power failed, allowed fans to leave safely. Ms Sue Wright, spokeswoman for Norweb, said: ``The problem was an underground cable fault which affected Boundary Park and 1000 homes in the area.

``Power was back on in an hour, and we would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused.'' Vouchers were given to the fans as they left, and the match is expected to be replayed on Tuesday. Oldham Athletic Chief Executive, Mr Alan Hardy, apologised for the game being called off, even though the circumstances were out of the club's control. He added: ``It is not usual club policy to give free admission to a replay. However in these circumstances, and because we are so pleased with the fans, we are offering them tickets and hope they can all attend the match and support Latics next week.''

WHEN Athletic played at Stoke on December 28, the game was delayed for 45 minutes by the visitors’ late arrival. Two weeks later, the curse struck again. This time, the teams will have to replay following a power cut in and around Boundary Park which forced last night’s Auto Windscreens Shield match to be abandoned. It was 8.58pm when the stadium took on an eerie darkness, illuminated only by the lights which flicker into action in an emergency. Referee Trevor Jones — after taking advice from club officials and the electricity board — knew there was little chance of the game resuming within any sensible time scale. The situation was hopeless and, inevitably, the northern section, second-round tie was abandoned after 56 minutes, less than half an hour after the players had trooped off the field. It was left to Athletic’s chief executive, Alan Hardy, to explain what had gone wrong.

Mr Hardy said: “We contacted Norweb straight away and they didn’t know there was a problem in the area. “We must have been the first to ring, but it turned out to be a major cable fault. “I was told it would be 15 or 20 minutes before an engineer could get here and at least 10.15 to 10.30 before power was restored. “It would have been far too late to restart the game, and the referee also had to consider the possibility of extra time and penalties. “We have had one floodlight go out before and you can manage to carry on like that. “Playing a match in complete darkness is a bit different. It’s unfortunate, but we have done what we can to help.”

All 3,673 who attended the game — around 600 of whom had made the trip from Stoke — were offered vouchers which allow them to watch the replay for nothing. Mr Hardy explained: “Usually, if the first half has been completed, there is no free admission. In this case, the prices had been reduced anyway (to £5 for adults and £1 for juniors and OAPs) and we were keen to make sure we had a reasonable attendance for the rearranged match. We were absolutely delighted by the crowd we had. The fans were magnificent in turning out in such numbers. The vouchers were already printed just in case and, although you never want to use them, I hope everyone will come back when the match is replayed.” The timing of the black-out was a real shame for Athletic as around 3,000 home fans had gone along to one of the least appetising fixtures of the season. Impressed by recent results — particularly last week’s televised win at Wigan — and tempted by the cheap prices, there were floating supporters keen to see what they had been missing. The crowd showed a significant increase on the Shield game last year when 2,133 watched a tie against Darlington. Athletic must hope those people aren’t put off by this unavoidable hiccup.

l Athletic could have been playing into the early hours of this morning if they had waited for power to be restored at their abandoned match. The electricity board said the floodlights could be out of action for at least another hour and a half. Had extra time and penalties been needed, the match would almost certainly have gone on past the stroke of midnight. Everyone in the crowd of 3,673 was handed a voucher for free entry to the replay, which will be at Boundary Park next Tuesday. Athletic were trailing 1-0 in the second-round tie, so the black-out actually brought them a reprieve. Chief executive Alan Hardy said: ``It was a general power failure and the referee had no choice but to call off the game. "It's very unfortunate and we would like to apologise to everyone who was there. It was totally out of our control." Official club policy states that, if the match has gone beyond 45 minutes before being abandoned, fans must pay full price when it is rearranged. They pay 50 per cent when the game is called off before half-time and only receive free entry next time if there is no play at all. But Mr Hardy said: "We were so pleased by the attendance that we decided to give out vouchers as a one-off gesture. "Anyone who was there can attend next week for free and last night's reduced admission prices will also apply." "Most of the vouchers issued were marked `Seton Stand', but that was just to speed up the process. They will apply to anywhere in the ground."