Stevenage 3 Oldham 4

[iamjonesyyoafc]

thanks Josh, am enjoying reading your blog. Keep going

 

thanks pal, glad you're enjoying it!

[wilsonjunior]

Today was quite simply Awesome, brought the Mrs to her first ever English football Match ( Shes Spanish ), and what a game to introduce her to the latics.

 

Anyway, i just knew at 1-0 down, we were going to come back, we just looked a much better side. the two goals we conceeded 2nd half were very very poor, and it is something that needs to be addressed.

 

Mellor may not be a centre half, but i admire what Johnson is trying to do at getting a ball playing centre half, like how the defence, would get back to basics and be happy to start again to relieve the team of any pressure they were under. it was very much key to how we began our attacks

 

Big mentions certainly go to Drayton, McDonald and for me Corey Smith, who is such a cool head under pressure on the ball.

 

Anyway, 3 points is a brilliant Start, not a perfect performance defensively, but we are going to score alot of goals if we continue like this, looking forward to see how we fare against the likes of Peterbrough and Wolves

 

but overall a game with many many positive and gives LJ something to work on for future games

 

 

Up the latics......

[MAC0AFC]

My pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/diego_sideburns/sets/72157634912852987/

some good pictures there, phone or proper camera??

[andy4oafc]

Anyone gonna do a player rating ?

[Diego_Sideburns]

some good pictures there, phone or proper camera??

Proper camera.

[MAC0AFC]

thought so, id say get on the sidelines and give Alan howarth a run for his money... but who wants to be on the picth on games like this haha

[Diego_Sideburns]

thought so, id say get on the sidelines and give Alan howarth a run for his money... but who wants to be on the picth on games like this haha

When I said "proper camera" I meant a digital camera that fits in my pocket. I can't compete with the long lens brigade.

[MAC0AFC]

When I said "proper camera" I meant a digital camera that fits in my pocket. I can't compete with the long lens brigade.

ah i see, still some good snaps nevertheless

[Diego_Sideburns]

ah i see, still some good snaps nevertheless

Cheers!

[opinions4u]

They have lots of roundabouts in Stevenage. Which led me to a car park I'd last used in 1990, after driving there via Darlington to collect a blonde to take in a huge gig at Knebworth. I never noticed the small football ground over the road. And I never saw the blonde again and can't even recall her name. But that's another story.

 

Today felt good. Other than a small delay to to people queuing to get off the A1 to get to a go kart event the drive was good, parking was easy and stood outside the ground I couldn't wait for the turnstiles to open. Friendly stewards, a tasty bacon buttie and an hour to kick off which was spent finding seats behind the goal and observing the warm up. The Latics shooting practice looked particularly classy.

 

Team sheet tracked down on Twitter, no surprise. A bit disappointed JCH wasn't starting. Would have preferred Byrne to Mellor. But not stressing. The manager seems to know what he's doing.

 

From the start Latics were right on it. Pushing hard, passing the ball and trying to get the wingers in to play. Their number three booked early on and when, on 13 minutes, he offended wildly again the inevitable red card was a foregone conclusion. Until the referee made the first of many mysterious decisions and just told him off.

 

A couple of minutes later Tarky got booked for passing the ball to a team mate at the precise moment the referee awarded a free kick to Stevenage. A joke of a decision that was immediately followed by Westley replacing their hapless left back with Filipe Morais.

 

Latics continued to look the better side, creating openings down the left, hitting the wall with a Baxter free kick and then Tarky had the ball in the net after getting to it before Chris Day. The referee looked to the linesman, who said goal and ran to the half way line. So the referee after a moment of thought said foul. From 120 yards away I couldn't see any obvious contact.

 

Then it rained heavily. Then they got the all into our box from their left side, scramble, bar, cleared, bang, 1-0. Out of the blue. Didn't expect it. Not a deserved lead. Immediate response from the players was positive, Mellor particularly noticeable in efforts to lift his team mate at. But it got to half time with Latics a goal down.

 

No obvious changes in formation as the same eleven emerged for the second half. A bit of frustration from Baxter who's shirt found itself in the hands of a Stevenage player for most of the game saw him stop playing in anticipation of a whistle that never came, almost leading a Stevenage counter attack. But he eventually did get a free kick on the right hand side, took it himself and Tarky got in front of two defenders to volley Latics level.

 

A Baxter cross from a similar position to the free kick was heading towards McDonald and Rooney at the far post when McDonald appeared to slip. Referee gave a penalty with only muted objections from Stevenage. Baxter hit a similar penalty to last week's friendly success against Huddersfield, only to see Day make a save. Baxter calmly knocked home the rebound and Latics, while not dominant, were very much on top.

 

The third came from a Stevenage corner, pushed to the edge of the Latics box. Montaño intercepted and headed for the half way line and a Stevenage defender. Support was behind him to his left. So he took it to the right and looked to get past the last man. Bad decision? No, but keeper's pushed him wide and looks able to get back. Deft chip from a slightly more awkward angle than he would have wanted. Goal. 3-1. Game over. Let's get 5.

 

And we really did look in total control at that moment. I think this is where the subs came in. Schmeltz for Dayton, JCH for Rooney. Schmeltz was a pain to them with some real pace, as was JCH who is my new favourite player. Then they scored, wandering past a static Latics defence and Tansey knocking in from close range. Poor defending.

 

The JCH inexplicably tried to catch a throw in of theirs. Handball. Yellow card. Free kick. No problem, it's close to half way. Hoofed long, Latics defence runs out en-masse. Most of the Stevenage front men offside. Except for Morais in acres of space on the Stevenage right who collected the ball, strode forwards and smashed in the equaliser. :censored:. 3-3.

 

Still, the boys in blue came forwards. McDonald appears to have a trademark back to goal spin on to right foot and shoot manoeuvre. He tried again, defender threw himself across to block and it hit the defender's arm. Referee gave the penalty. Baxter placed it just inside the left post and the celebrations began. Byrne came on for Mellor, they gave it a bit of a go but, despite a couple of corners, didn't look like making it 4-4. Final whistle. Superb!

 

Sweating, heart beating fast, mentally shattered, physically exhausted too. And that was me.

 

By the way, Tounkare still can't shoot straight. And while Stevenage weren't that good he should have worked Oxley on a couple of occasions.

 

Great day out. Decent game. Any away win is a brilliant result.

 

Oxley 8 - could he have done more on their first?

Brown 7 - not the fastest thinker, got forward a little more today.

Grounds 8 - solid.

Mellor 7 - some good interceptions, seemed stretched at times.

Tarky 8 - and I suspect his disallowed goal was perfectly good.

Smith 9 - doing the work of Furman and Wesolowski, but much more effectively.

Baxter 8 - occasional lapses with the passing, but central to three of the goals.

Montaño 8 - great goal, but :censored:s out of tackles.

Dayton 8 - scared them early on. Scared them before he went off. Quiet in between.

McDonald 8 - hard working, not always effective, won two penalties.

Rooney 7 - you know what, I think he's got "it" but he needs to give a little bit more than he did today.

 

JCH 8 - would have been 9 without the brainfart handball.

Sid 8 - loved his pace and skill.

Byrne 8 - steadying influence after we went ahead.

Edited August 3, 2013 by opinions4u

[jsslatic]

2 questions: Was Smith captain? Is the lad Hills who should have been sent off the same one we had on loan a few years back?

 

Looking forward to a BP double header this coming week.

[dec666]

2 questions: Was Smith captain? Is the lad Hills who should have been sent off the same one we had on loan a few years back?

 

Looking forward to a BP double header this coming week.

 

Yes to both

[jsslatic]

I wonder how Razza reacted to Fil scoring against us. That must have been a complete mind :censored:.

[rudemedic]

2 questions: Was Smith captain? Is the lad Hills who should have been sent off the same one we had on loan a few years back?

 

Looking forward to a BP double header this coming week.

Yes and Yes and I wasn't there.

[the_mighty_bosh]

Fantastic day and Mind blowing result!

 

Can't remember the last time we had 5 dangerous attacking threats in our team. I can imagine MacDonald being a nuisance on his own but when he has Baxter, Dayton, Montano and Rooney who offer such an attacking threat, his work rate and movement becomes a nightmare for defences!

 

The defence has such glaring obvious flaws, but it says a lot that when we conceded to make it 3-2 I felt no worry whatsoever. Not because I thought we'd hold out but because I knew that whatever followed, I had been entertained.

 

Stevenage were painfully cynical. They are a team who are actively encouraged not to play football by their manager. I can guarentee that Tounkara will be a worse player for playing under Westley.

 

Finally, Montano's goal was sheer class.

[Diego_Sideburns]

Quote from the Stevenage manager:

"Oldham might not have been fancied to do particularly well in the league this season but we have seen from this match that they are going to be a real threat. They have brought some good quality in during the summer and they are going to upset a few teams."

[Harry Dowds Green Shirt]

They have lots of roundabouts in Stevenage. Which led me to a car park I'd last used in 1990, after driving there via Darlington to collect a blonde to take in a huge gig at Knebworth. I never noticed the small football ground over the road. And I never saw the blonde again and can't even recall her name. But that's another story.

 

Byrne 8 - steadying influence after we went ahead.

 

Decent summary O4U.

 

But that mark for Byrne is a surprise.

 

We scored in the 87th minute and he didn't come on for a couple of minutes after that so was on the pitch for all of 5 mins. For me the steadying influence on that pitch was our captain who I think brings calm and direction to his teammates

 

The 3 we conceeded today were team faults not individual errors

[Diego_Sideburns]

....The third came from a Stevenage corner, pushed to the edge of the Latics box. Montaño intercepted and headed for the half way line and a Stevenage defender. Support was behind him to his left. So he took it to the right and looked to get past the last man. Bad decision? No, but keeper's pushed him wide and looks able to get back. Deft chip from a slightly more awkward angle than he would have wanted. Goal. 3-1. Game over. Let's get 5....

 

I was poised with the camera as he headed into the Stevenage half with three players in support, but I gave up on him when he went wide of the keeper to that more awkward angle. Then what a fantastic finish - if that had been in the Greedy League, we'd have never heard the last of it!

[Midsblue]

I was poised with the camera as he headed into the Stevenage half with three players in support, but I gave up on him when he went wide of the keeper to that more awkward angle. Then what a fantastic finish - if that had been in the Greedy League, we'd have never heard the last of it!

BBC totally ruined it by only starting his run from outside the 18 yard box. What about the other 50 yards from their half?

 

Cracking goal. From where I sat/stood, loads around me were shouting "come on, come on" as he was making his run; willing him to score. I too thought he'd messed it when he went wide...even screamed for him to square to McDonald. Then the dink over keeper with the ball rolling over the line before their defender could clear it.

 

Too true re your comment had this been in the Prem. Even Talksport gave goal of the day to one of their favoured clubs.

 

I'm quite happy following an unfancied, unfashionable team who will quietly make progress before making a few headlines later in the season.

[Macca]

Latics teams of old would have struggled to get back into a game like yesterday let alone against a side managed by Westley. His teams usually love to frustrate and nullify attacks by closing down and if needs be bringing the opposition player down. Stevenage will be one of the most organised sides we face this season and I can't say they had a bad game at all. They just couldn't cope with our attack at times, they couldn't get us out of their half for the early parts of the second half. All that pressure and goals are inevitable, we bombarded them.

 

To score 4 goals against a side that played well at the back, are so organised and made it difficult is fantastic to see. We have nothing to fear this season if can carry on attacking like we did

 

Korey Smith was immense, led by example, so good on the ball and getting out of tricky situations. LJ has performed miracles to get a player like him to League One.

 

The defence needs working on and Mellor worried me a few times, he did a decent job but he looks out of position and Stevenage tried capitalising on that by hoofing the ball in his direction and having Tounkara challenge him, he didn't seem to have that spring to go up for headers. He did a good job though and his distribution out of defence was fantastic, saw passes that I didn't think were on but he made it work.

[Midsblue]

Can't remember the last time we had 5 dangerous attacking threats in our team.

Exactly and that line-up will hopefully bring a few back through the turnstiles should they stay injury free, avoid suspensions and continue from yesterday. There's no excuse because that quintet tick all the boxes; skill, trickery, dribbling, creativity, proper wingers, pace and excitement.

 

All five wanted the ball and as soon as we were on the attack we flooded their half and Stevenage just couldn't contain us. Unsure how effective we'd be against the more experienced and quality teams but can't wait to see it.

 

Felt sorry for those fans who couldn't make it yesterday as I've never been this excited for a number of seasons, probably since the Dowie play-off season.

 

EDIT - I also thought Mellor played well yesterday and seemed composed at times. Shrugged off the size of Tonk a few times and when intercepting the ball, held the ball well, dribbled through a few challenges and played the ball out of defence making composed passes to midfield and attack without lumping the ball forward. There's definitely something there as a ball-playing CB

Edited August 4, 2013 by Midsblue

[celliott83]

I just want to put out there, I thought Mellor was excellent today, for a relative youngster playing out of position (ish) against those giants today a lot would have wilted but he looks leaner, meaner and a proper footballer, I loved him getting the ball off Oxley and going off to "play"

 

Yes he's not the experienced Gregan type but I'd put him ahead of the likes of Clarke that we have had recently. Give him a chance and I think we are going to have a major asset

 

Before people slate him, not one of the goals were his fault

[palmer1]

I've not seen Mellor play there yet but I'm hoping he grows into the role. It may take a full season but by the end he could be a very valuable player for us.

 

And that would mean 2 of our own at the back who could both be worth a bit

[Midsblue]

I just want to put out there, I thought Mellor was excellent today, for a relative youngster playing out of position (ish) against those giants today a lot would have wilted but he looks leaner, meaner and a proper footballer, I loved him getting the ball off Oxley and going off to "play"

Yes he's not the experienced Gregan type but I'd put him ahead of the likes of Clarke that we have had recently. Give him a chance and I think we are going to have a major asset

Before people slate him, not one of the goals were his fault

^this 100%. Great spot by LJ. When their striker came flying in and he turned him, going around him, checked back and playing a left-footed pass across the pitch to Dayton was superb.

 

Great goal by Tarky too.

 

As someone else said; two of our own. Great stuff

Edited August 4, 2013 by Midsblue

[oafcprozac]

If we continue to attack like we did yesterday then we'll win more than we lose. There were a couple of issues for me:-

 

1. We need more vocality at the back, grounds is the most experienced, step up to the plate lad! The Keeper should have opened his gob for the first goal too.

2. Tarky needs to trust Dave Mellor more, time and again he gets involved when the situation is under control

3. Mellor needs to be conscious of how wide he occasionally drifts. He's naturally left-footed, has played fullback so therefore it's instinct. This awareness will come with experience.

4. I'm worried a little about the full-backs, if we're going gung-ho with wingers we need more discipline from them and not let teams in behind. Grounds at times yesterday was culpable and was guilty often in pre-season. For all the criticism of Brown, it is the left-hand side where we look at our weakest when defending. Of course Monty doesn't track back enough, but this is where Grounds should open his gob!