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The Unofficial Daily On-line e-zine for 250 Oldham Athletic Supporters Worldwide Today's Edition for

12th March 2002

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Oldham Evening Chronicle (www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk) Latics face new ’keeper crisis ATHLETIC have been plunged into a new goalkeeper crisis as they prepare for Saturday’s home game against promotion rivals Cardiff City. Gary Kelly’s injury-troubles continued yesterday when he turned his ankle in training and Athletic are unsure of the extent of the damage. With Paul Rachubka back at Manchester United following a three-month loan, Athletic were forced to press David Miskelly back into action sooner than envisaged following a shoulder operation. Miskelly, who dislocated his shoulder at Stoke in November, played in last night’s Manchester Senior Cup tie against Manchester United reserves. The Northern Ireland under-21 international will also play for the reserves at Sheffield United on Wednesday. Head coach Mick Wadsworth said: “We have been forced to rush David back whereas ideally we would have liked him to have a full week’s training. “Now I need to assess if David is ready to play in the first team so this week it is going to be a case of being cautious with Kelly and adventurous with Miskelly.” Wadsworth added that he has a contingency plan to bring in a goalkeeper if Kelly is ruled out and Miskelly is deemed not ready to return. Athletic have received some cheer on the injury front after learning striker David Reeves has not detached a retina in his eye. It was feared Reeves, hurt when a football hit him in the face in the pre-match build- up at Bury, might be ruled out for the season. A specialist has found the retina is all right but a muscle behind the eye has been damaged. Reeves can train but has been forbidden from heading the ball for a week. He will still be back in action sooner than anticipated, which is good news bearing in mind striker John Eyre is ruled out for the remainder of the campaign following a hernia operation. Argentinian Cristian Colusso was given a run in the reserves last night as he tries to convince Athletic to sign him on a long-term basis. Colusso has been released by Rosario Central because of the economic problems in Argentina and has signed a short-term contract until the end of this season. Athletic will then have to decide whether to offer Colusso, who was valued at three million dollars by Rosario Central, a permanent deal. n Athletic’s league match at Huddersfield Town on Easter Monday, a clash which could be vital to the play-off hopes of both clubs, has been made all-ticket. Eyre’s injury blow ATHLETIC could be in the market for a new striker after losing John Eyre for the rest of the season. The 27-year-old has undergone a hernia operation, leaving Mick Wadsworth with a lack of cover for the frontline. Allan Smart and Carlo Corazzin hold the jerseys at present, with David Reeves as third-choice when his eye injury permits. Eyre was the main back-up — the only back-up, in fact, until Craig Dudley returned from a loan spell — but is very unlikely to recover before the season ends on April 20. Athletic have been clearing the decks recently, and among those to leave were a trio of home-grown forwards in Mark Allott, who joined Chesterfield, Matthew Tipton (Macclesfield) and Ryan Sugden (Scarborough). With plenty of time left before the transfer deadline, it would be no surprise if Wadsworth tried to inspire a final play-off push by strengthening his attack. A loan deal comes into the reckoning as many top clubs like to give their fringe players league experience in the heat of a promotion or relegation battle. Athletic have used that option in two of the last three years, signing Sam Parkin from Chelsea and Paul Beavers from Sunderland. Eyre had looked a capable deputy this term, scoring six goals in 17 starts, plus 11 games as sub. Now in his second spell at Boundary Park, Eyre arrived last summer in a free transfer from Hull.

THE Supporters’ Association have secured a panel of Athletic’s top brass for their forum later this month. Scheduled to appear for a grilling are chairman Chris Moore, head coach Mick Wadsworth, first-team coach Iain Dowie and chief executive Alan Hardy. The players will also be represented as David Eyres, Allan Smart and Paul Murray have agreed to add their views. The forum will be held on Monday, March 25 (7pm) at the Clayton Arms. Entrance is free to OASA members and Boundary Blues members accompanied by an adult. Everyone else pays £1.

ATHLETIC took a total of over 5,500 fans to the derby games at Bury and Wigan last week. There were 3,056 at Gigg Lane and 2,528 at the JJB Stadium, giving both North-West neighbours their best home attendance's of the season.

COMMERCIAL manager Bob Gorrill will be leaving his post shortly and heading to Mansfield Town, where he will take charge of a new commercial operation. Gorrill, who has also worked for Sheffield Wednesday and Northampton, has spent five years at Boundary Park.

Don't forget the BBz/Rivals Message Board at http://boards.rivals.net/default.asp?sid=939&p=16&forumid=5973BBz Web Site archive is at http://www.oocities.org/laticsgary.geo

Official Oldham Athletic Web Site (www.oldhamathletic.co.uk)Content from the Oldham Athletic Web Site is used with permission of Oldham Athletic Football Club
LATICS PLAYER SUFFERS SERIOUS INJURYLatics goalkeeper, Gary Kelly is set to miss the rest of the season after injuring an ankle in training yesterday. The results of an MRI scan today have confirmed that the stopper has ruptured ankle ligaments and it is doubtful that he will be fit for a return to 1st team duty this season. Kelly's injury saw a surprise return to reserve team action last night for David Miskelly who had been a long term absentee with his own injury, Miskelly is set to play for the reserves again on Wednesday evening when they travel to take on Sheffield Utd. With Miskelly only just returning from his own injury, Manager Mick Wadsworth has been prompted to look at alternative goalkeeping cover although no targets have as yet been identified.
TICKET NEWS, LATICS vs. STOKE CITY

Please note that this game will kick off at 1pm and the match will be ALL TICKET. NB. STRICTLY NO CASH ADMISSION ON DAY OF THE GAME. Tickets are on general sale now. The Ticket Office is open from 9am to 5pm. LAST DAY OF SALE - Friday 5th April HUDDERSFIELD CLASH ALL-TICKET

The Latics clash with fellow play-off contenders Huddersfield Town at the McAlpine Stadium on Easter Monday has been designated as an all ticket fixture.OLDHAM ATH RES 2-1 MAN UTD RES - MANCHESTER SENIOR CUP

Latics came from behind to win this match with 2nd half goals from Dudley and Rickers cancelling out Nardiello's 1st half penalty for the visitors. The Latics fielded a strong starting line-up for this tie with several members of the first team squad included. David Miskelly returned to action for the first time since dislocating a shoulder in a match against Stoke City back in November and completed the full 90 minutes. The 1st chance fell Latics' way with Craig Dudley shooting straight at Utd keeper Williams following a Lee Hardy cross in from the left. Dudley did well again with around 10 minutes gone as he beat the offside trap before firing in an angled drive that Williams saved. United’s 1st chance came a couple of minutes later with David Fox firing over from the edge of the box after good approach play. The Latics had a penalty appeal turned down as Colusso went down under a challenge in the United penalty area on the quarter hour mark before Miskelly was called into action as he was forced to save after a good run by Utd right winger Muirhead had created a chance for Nardiello who turned inside the area only to see his effort blocked by the Latics keeper. Utd were awarded a penalty on 26 minutes, Latics fullback Marcel Nugent dwelt on the ball too long in the corner and was closed down by Djordjic, the Utd man charged down Nugent's clearance and advanced into the box where he was ultimately brought down. Nardiello converted the penalty by slotting home coolly into the bottom corner. Minutes later, goalscorer Nardiello fired wide after taking the ball off the toes of team-mate Muirhead who had cut in from the wing. In the closing seconds of the half, some neat build up play by Latics ended with Colusso chipping a ball over the defence for Wayne Gill to run onto, unfortunately, the midfielder was adjudged to have used his hands in controlling the ball and the chance was gone. Latics started the 2nd half brightly earning a corner from a Lee Hardy run, the ball was whipped in by Gill and went up in the air from the defenders header, Dudley's header from the 2nd attempt was claimed by the Utd keeper before a Lee Hardy cross from the left was headed back down by Dudley to Lee Duxbury who saw his shot blocked by Williams in the United goal. With around an hour of the contest gone, a couple of mistakes in the Utd defence almost gifted Latics a way back into this match, firstly one of the Utd defenders gave the ball away to Colusso just outside the area and as he tried to thread a ball through to Wayne Gill, Utd defender John Rankin put the ball past his own goalkeeper only for it to come back out off the post. Moments later, Latics made a substitution with Heselton coming on for Wayne Gill. Heselton only just on almost got Latics back in front with his 1st touch, Lee Hardy delivered a free-kick in from the right and as the ball was headed down, Heselton reacted 1st to send the ball goalwards, his effort beat Williams but not the defender who had got back to clear off the line. Utd made their own substitution with around 20 minutes left bringing Heath on for Williams. Heath was soon into the action as 5 minutes later, he got a header to a left wing corner but Miskelly was able to claim easily. Latics got the goal they had deserved as they broke to the other end and won a corner of their own, Lee Hardy delivered deep to Lee Duxbury who headed back goalwards where Craig Dudley went up with the keeper and headed home. Heselton headed wide from Duxbury's right wing cross on 78 minutes but it wouldn't have mattered as he was adjudged to have fouled his marker. Just a minute later however, Rickers gave Latics the lead, Duxbury found Hardy on the left wing, he did well beating 2 defenders before sending over a low cross which Rickers converted from close range. Latics continued to pressure with Hardy down the left and earned a corner which Hardy took, as the players went up, Heselton was adjudged to have headed over. In the closing minutes both sides had chances with Heath going close for the visitors and Colusso firing just over for Latics.

CROSS: WE NOW HAVE A REALISTIC CHANCE OF GETTING INTO THE FINAL

Latics reserves beat a Man Utd reserve side 2-1 at Boundary Park in the Manchester Senior Cup and are now just 1 win away from the final. Their only remaining obstacle to reaching that goal is an away game against Bury at Gigg Lane on April 3rd, Kick-off 7:00pm. If Cross' team won that game they would go on to face Man City at Hyde Utd's Ewan Fields ground in the final with the date yet to be decided. We spoke to David this morning and asked for his thought's on last night's match. "The performance was Ok we passed the ball well in the 1st half but I was a little worried that we didn't look like scoring as we struggled to get a shot at goal and when we put crosses into the box more often than not there was only 1 of our players in there. We had a lot of good build up play but overlooked what the game was about which was winning." Being 1-0 down at half time, David decided things needed to be changed around slightly: "At half time, we slightly re-organised and changed the lads attitude in terms of focusing on getting the result, it was an individual mistake to give away the penalty and go 1-0 down in a game we needed to win but these things happen. "To get back into the match we decided to push the strikers right up and told the full backs to push further on to hold United back, that had a major effect as it enabled Lee Hardy to get into the positions where we wanted him to be and that's where the goals came from. Speaking about the players, David was impressed with Lee Hardy and triallist Alistair Heselton who came on as a 2nd half substitute: "Lee Hardy was exceptional in the 2nd half after a quiet 1st half, all the senior lads, did a professional job and it was a big plus to have David Miskelly back in goal at what was very short notice. "The trialist's, Nugent did OK defensively and I think Heselton was the catalyst that gave us that little bit of energy to go on and win. Speaking about the goals, David said: "Lee's set pieces were quality, it was frustrating earlier in the match because we weren't getting people onto the end of them until the corner from which we got the 1st goal. "The 2nd goal was real quality, Lee did well getting past 2 defenders to get to the by-line before putting over a good ball for Paul Rickers to finish from close range which is where you want players to be finishing from. In conclusion, David said how pleased he was with the result: "I am very pleased with the result, we now have a realistic chance of getting into the final but we did have a strong side out against what effectively were a young Utd side with the exception of Stewart and Djordjic."

TEAMtalk (www.teamtalk.co.uk) Keeper crisis comes again
The Latics are facing their second goalkeeper crisis this season after veteran Gary Kelly left a training session after going over on an ankle. The joint is bruised and swollen so the full extent of the damage will not be known until it goes back to near its normal size. At this stage, the 34-year-old is a doubt for Saturday's visit of play-off rivals Cardiff City and Mick Wadsworth admitted: "We may have a problem, but we will just have to wait and see." Kelly was out earlier in the season when he aggravated an old knee injury. Number two David Miskelly came in for his first game of the season at Stoke back in November. But he dislocated his shoulder and underwent surgery to tighten the tendons in January and was rushed back into action last night in a reserve-team game so he could be checked out. Wadsworth solved his previous crisis by bringing in Manchester United's Paul Rachubka on loan. The 20-year-old stayed at Boundary Park for the maximum three months and proved to be a key member of the team as they climbed up the table towards the play-off places. The Latics wanted to sign him and the clubs quickly agreed fee of £300,000, but the player decided his future still lay at Old Trafford. They now have to decide whether to go back to see if he has changed his mind, risk going into the most important stage of the season with Northern Ireland Under-21 Miskelly, or go for another loan keeper. Kelly could still prove his fitness, but if he has a relapse later in the week The Latics could find themselves without adequate cover. It is a dilemma which leaves Wadsworth with precious little time to get any cover.

Freak accident KO's Reeves
David Reeves has been ruled out for at least another week after he was hit in the face with a ball when he bent down to tie a bootlaces. The 34-year-old striker picked up a freak injury in the derby game at Bury last week during the pre-match warm-up. He was unable to see out of one eye and suffered double vision in the other. It was first feared that Reeves had suffered a detached retina which would require surgery. But a specialist has diagnosed muscle damage and ordered him to rest. Reeves can not run or even jog for the next seven days when he goes back to the specialist to be re-assessed.

Reserves go down
Latics reserves beat Manchester United 2-1 in the Manchester Senior Cup last night with goals through Craig Dudley and Paul Rickers. Daniel Nardiello was on target for The Reds from the penalty spot at Boundary Park midway through the first-half after Bojan Djordjic had been fouled by Latics' on-trial QPR defender Marcel Nugent.
Oldham then equalised in the second-half through Dudley before Rickers grabbed the winner ten minutes from time. Manchester United's fate in the competition now rests on Oldham's clash with Bury as another Latics victory would dump The Reds out.

Boss sings Green's praises Paul Jewell has been singing the praises of Scott Green after the full back's impressive display in the 1-0 win against Oldham on Saturday. The former Bolton defender appeared to be on his way out of the JJB after finding himself out of favour during the opening months of the season. But Green watched experienced defenders like Jeff Kenna and Gary Croft come and go and forced his way back into the starting line-up. And Jewell has been quick to point out the contribution of the player who arrived at the club in a £300,000 deal almost five years ago. Jewell said: "It was a good team performance, I don't like to single out individuals but I will say Scott Green had his best game since I came here." Heselton follows Nugent north Youngster Alistair Heselton has joined Marcel Nugent on trial at Oldham as he too looks for a new club after being told he has no future at QPR. Nugent recently joined Oldham for a trial period and midfielder Heselton has now followed with both players hoping to earn a contract at Boundary Park, having been informed they are not part of Ian Holloway's future plans. The youngsters have been recommended to Oldham boss Mick Wadsworth by his assistant Iain Dowie, who knows the pair well having worked with them during his time as a coach at Loftus Road. Nugent has done fairly well since heading north while Heselton has made a particularly good impression and seems likely to be offered the chance to make a fresh start with The Latics. Nugent started Oldham's Manchester Senior Cup clash with Manchester United last night, while Heselton was named among the substitutes.

Contributions and letters should be sent to Gary Davies by e-mail at LaticsGary@ntlworld.comor at Boundary Bullet-zine,41 Verney Road,Royton,Oldham,United Kingdom.OL2 6AZ07786 928689Or in the Setons Chaddy end Row R Seats 67 & 68Boundary Bullet-zine Archive can be found at http://www.oocities.org/laticsgary.geo.Boundary Bullet-zine Message Board can be found at http://boards.rivals.net/default.asp?sid=939&p=16&forumid=5973The views expressed on this e-zine are not the views of Oldham Athletic F.C. nor necessarily the views of the Editor.This e-zine is a unofficial publication NOT sanctioned by Oldham Athletic Football Club.The editor will not publish any letters containing bad language.This e-zine is written using Microsoft Outlook Express and is best viewed with the HTML (rich) text option enabled.