Game week five is now in the books and as usual the D3D4 correspondents give their match reports. Have a read below…

MATCH REPORT: Oxford United 3-1 Burton Albion

A frustrating first-half gave way to an efficient second as Oxford United picked up their first points of the new season with a well-earned 3-1 victory over Burton Albion.

Oxford had put in a good performance against Accrington in mid-week but defensive errors cost them dearly as Stanley completed a second half turn around to win 3-2.

Oxford made just one change from that game with Sam Smith coming in to replace Jonathan Obika. The biggest thing of note on the team sheet was the inclusion of Ricky Holmes on the bench, the former Charlton man was doubtful after struggling with a back injury.

The opening moments were very scrappy with neither side taking control but Marcus Brown and Gavin Whyte were both excellent outlets for United. Cameron Norman also looked dangerous as his marauding runs from right back caused problems throughout the game.

Oxford soon settled and took a deserved lead through Marcus Brown….or John Mousinho depending on who you ask. A free-kick on the left was beautifully delivered by Brown and as Mousinho jumped he might have got the slightest of flicks to take it under the Burton ‘keeper. It was just the start the Yellows needed but it could have so easily been even better.

Both James Henry and Gavin Whyte couldn’t put away good chances before an all too familiar story look to unfold for the Yellows. A free-kick six minutes before the break was floated into the box and Ben Turner rose highest as he used Nelson as a step ladder to flick the ball into the path of Sordell to bundle an equaliser.

Karl Robinson look like an enraged hippo on the touchline and made his feelings known to the fourth official. It could have been worse just a few moments later as Liam Boyce drilled a ball wide with Oxford giving away possession on too many occasions due to their obsession of playing it out from the back.

HT: Oxford 1-1 Burton

The second half saw Oxford fly out of the blocks s Gavin Whyte fed the ball to Smith whose effort was palmed away by Bywater only for James Henry to react quickest to finish smartly just five minutes into the second-half.

Oxford took confidence from the goal and both Gavin Whyte and Cameron Norman put in an excellent shift, closing down the opposition at every opportunity. The former was unlucky not to grab a goal after an excellent cross field run saw his snap shot drift just wide of the post.

Marcus Browne took a knock and was taken off to allow Ricky Holmes to make just his second appearance of the season and with his second touch of the ball it was 3-1 in this one.

James Henry set it up by unselfishly playing in Holmes on the left hand side of the area and the substitute made no mistake as he smashed home the third. To Oxford’s credit they saw the game out well and Jamie Mackie could have added a fourth but the three points are in the bag and hopefully the players can travel to Newport and then Sunderland with confidence and belief.

COYY

words James Richards, D3D4 Football

MATCH REPORT: Morecambe 0-2 Oldham Athletic

Oldham Ride Their Luck.

Morecambe had never played Oldham Athletic in a league game before today’s contest at the Globe Arena. Which shows how far the once mighty have fallen. Who can forget Joe Royle’s swashbuckling Blues back in the 1990s with their plastic pitch and their regular demolitions of supposedly superior teams such as Arsenal and West Ham in the very first incarnation of the Premiership? As their supporters welcomed away wins with the chant “We can play on grass as well!” Oldham were a match for anybody on their day.

Sadly for Latics supporters, this is all now a distant memory. Oldham’s gradual fall through the Football League has been slow and painful for fans of the Boundary Park outfit. They were relegated from League One earlier this year and since then, Frankie Bunn’s team has lost its first League Two contest 1-2 to Mk Dons but beaten Macclesfield and drawn the rest of their League fixtures so far. They arrived at the Lancashire seaside today in lucky thirteenth place in the table. As for Morecambe, following their first goal and first points in League Two this season with their heroic win against Northampton in mid-week, the main thing Jim Bentley would be worried about was the absence of Barry Roche. Morecambe’s talismanic goalkeeper, Club and Team Captain was sent off on Tuesday night and thus suspended for today’s contest.

It was a beautiful day in Morecambe; Sunny, warm and with a moderate breeze off the Irish Sea from the West. Oldham – about 65 miles away to the south east – brought a large contingent of noisy fans with them and created an atmosphere which must have made the Athletic players feel as if it was a home game.

The home team looked lively at first and had the first half-chance after six minutes when A-Jay Leitch-Smith set-up Zak Mills to shoot wildly over the stand roof when well-placed in the centre of the visitors’ penalty area. Four minutes later, Aaron Wildig took a quick free-kick and released Rhys Oates, who – although seemingly as surprised to see the ball at his feet as the Latics defence were, slammed in a shot which appeared to hit the angle of bar and post to goalkeeper Daniel Iversen’s left. Oates then intercepted a poor pass on about the half way line with a quarter of an hour played, galloped down the pitch and was cynically brought down by Dan Gardner just outside the Oldham penalty area. Was it a clear goal-scoring opportunity? Yes it was. Did Referee Martin Coy thus show Gardener the Red Card? No he didn’t. The Oldham defender received just a yellow and then found himself up the other end in the nineteenth minute and having shots brilliantly blocked by Mills and one of his colleagues who both threw themselves at the ball. Wildig then got his head to a corner kick and put the ball back into the danger zone after twenty minutes but Oldham’s defence cleared it. Morecambe were not so quick to respond as they had been earlier, though in the twenty- third minute.  With nobody putting any significant pressure on him, Chris O’Grady swept the ball past Mark Halstead in the home goal after being picked-out by Christopher Missilou. The visitors could hardly have believed their luck when – less than two minutes later – they found the Shrimps’ defence at sixes and sevens again; Mills made a weak attempt to head a dangerous cross away from his goal line and the ball fell nicely for Gevaro Nepomuceno to volley it joyously past Morecambe’s stand-in goalkeeper, who had no chance at all of stopping it.

So that was it. Two goal in two minutes after the hosts had probably shaded the play. Whether the visitors decided to shut-up shop at this point and play out the game of whether the Shrimps’ efforts to get back into the match stopped them from going any further ahead is a moot point. Morecambe huffed and puffed until the end of the half after that but Iversen was never seriously tested and you were left wondering – not for the first time – where a goal for the Shrimps was ever going to come from.

But in the second half – without any changes in the home team initially – the team in red completely dominated possession for the whole of the time. The only chance Oldham contrived was in the seventy-fifth minute, when there was a melee in the penalty area right in front of the massed ranks of their fans. The ball looked like it might go anywhere but the home defence finally hoofed it clear. Down the other end, though, Morecambe looked likely to score on several occasions and only bad luck, excellent goalkeeping and poor refereeing kept them out. In the fifty-third minute, Andy Fleming looked like he was certain to reduce the arrears but his fierce shot from close in seemed to hit one of his team-mates as opposed to a defender on its way into the net.

Shortly afterwards,Liam Mandeville did well to work a position to the left of the Oldham penalty area and unleashed a ferocious drive which Iversen did brilliantly to tip over the bar. A second really contentious moment arrived in the 67^th minute. Oates made what seemed like a fairly regular attempt to get the ball when a long range back-pass was played back to Oldham’s goalkeeper. But Iverson – for whatever reason – took exception to his challenge and clearly shoved his face into the young forward’s in a manner which could only be described as like a head-butt. The Oldham keeper can thank his lucky stars that Rhys didn’t fall to the ground or otherwise make a meal of it. But even though he didn’t, Mr Coy shouldn’t have lived down to his surname and been slow to issue Iversen with a red card. Instead – as had been the case with Gardener earlier in the match – he just booked the extremely petulant man in green. By such fine margins do defeat and victory hang…

Iversen was thus still in place in order to pull-off the save of the game from A-Jay with just eight minutes still scheduled to play. He came out quickly from the goal and managed to block a shot from the forward who was rapidly bearing down on him in the centre of the penalty area. And this was as near as Morecambe got to reducing the arrears. However, not everything was gloom and doom at the Globe Arena today. Two lapses of concentration in quick succession cost Morecambe the match but they looked lively and played with real penetration particularly during the second half. The win pushed the Latics into eight position in League Two. Morecambe, meanwhile, slipped towards the bottom of the pile again. Importantly, though, they are not in the relegation positions and psychologically at least, this is far better than things might have been at five o’clock this evening.

Morecambe: 21 Mark Halstead; 2 Zak Mills; 3 Luke Conlan (19 Carlos Mendes-Gomes 88 mins); 5 Steven Old; 8 Andy Fleming; 12 Jason Oswell (9 Vadaine Oliver 72 mins); 14 Josef Yarney; 15 Aaron Wildig  (C);  17 Liam Mandeville;  18 Rhys Oates (11 Kevin Ellison 79 mins; 28 A-Jay Leitch-Smith.

Subs not used: 13 Dawid Szczepaniak; 4 Alex Kenyon; 25 Ben Hedley; 27 Jordan Cranston.

Oldham Athletic : 1 Daniel Iversen (Y); 3 Andy Taylor; 4 George Edmundson; 6 Dan Gardner (Y); 8 Jose Baxter (19 Callum Lang 64 mins); 10 Chris O’Grady; 16 Christopher Missilou (Y) (28 Mohamed Maouche 83 mins); 22 Johan Branger-Engone (18 Sam Graham 45 mins); 23 Rob Hunt; 26 Peter Clarke (Y) ; 27 Gevaro Nepomuceno.

Subs not used : 13 Zeus de la Paz; 14 Jonathan Benteke; 20 Jamie Stott.

Ref: Martin Coy.

words Roger Fitton, D3D4 Morecambe correspondent

MATCH REPORT: Carlisle United 1-0 Crewe Alexandra

Following contrasting results in midweek, it was Carlisle who again ground-out another victory to make it three-in-a-row as an Ashley Nadesan strike heaped misery on a struggling Crewe side.

Visiting boss David Artell made six changes to the line-up that lost 6-0 at Colchester last time out, with former Carlisle men Shaun Miller and Michael Raynes included for their first starts of the season. Host manager John Sheridan went unchanged for the third time on the bounce, hoping to capitalise on an under-confidences Crewe outfit.

It was a fairly even first half with the Railymen matching the Cumbrians in terms of chances but there was nothing guilt-edged. Some frustration from the home fans and dugout was consistent throughout the forty-five minutes as some questionable decisions went the way of the away team. However, towards the close of the half, skipper Danny Grainger went down after being turned on the by-line and was immediately substituted for Macauley Gillesphey to make his first league appearance of the campaign.

Unfortunately for both sides, the second half began with two rough injuries – one for Carlisle loan goalkeeper Joe Fryer (which appeared to be a possible ankle break) and one for this time Crewe captain Paul Green as they were both stretchered off following a chasing clash in the penalty area.

Straight from the restart, the new man between the sticks Adam Collin sent the ball up and loanee Ashley Nadesan went through on goal before an excellent last-ditch challenge from Eddie Nolan saved the day. Just a few minutes later however, Collin sent Gillesphey forward on the left, and a flick on from Richie Bennett played through Nadesan and this time he beat Raynes for pace to the ball and slid it with his left foot under goalkeeper Ben Garratt into the back of the net.

One goal was always going to win the game and that came to eventual fruition despite 8 minutes of added time. Pressure came from the visitors late on but the hosts held resilient yet again to see out the victory.

Emotions will be different in both camps throughout this week as the division begins to shake up going into the second month of this season.

Referee: Seb Stockbridge

Attendance: 4258 (251)

Man of the Match: Tom Parkes

words Nathan Ridley, D3D4 Carlisle United correspondent

MATCH REPORT: Doncaster Rovers 0-0 Portsmouth

A very pleasant & warm late summer’s day greeted the teams as they entered the fray at Rovers Keepmoat Stadium this afternoon.

Both sides have made decent starts to the season but it was the home team that tore into Pompey from the start. Rovers forward Alfie May was the first to warm Pompey keeper MacGillivray’s hands with a good attempt in only the 3rd minute. CB Andy Butler then headed narrowly wide following a Herbie Hide corner for the home side.

Rovers midfielder Ben Whiteman was only just wide with a long range effort & in the next attack MacGillivray saved another May effort & we hadn’t had 15 minutes on the clock. Rovers continued to press but Wilks attempts to win a penalty in the 32nd minutes would have not looked out of place in the Olympic diving pool & was met quite rightly with chants of ” that was embarrassing” from the Pompey faithful.

Pompey tried to respond with long range attempts from Ben Thompson & Ronan Curtis but they were well wide. The half nearly ended with an own goal, Kane tried a shot, it hit Pompey defender Whatmough but MacGillivray clawed the ball back before it crossed the line.

HT Rovers 0 Pompey 0

Pompey boss knew he had to change things if his team were going to get a positive result so he sent on veteran striker Brett Pitman & midfield man Ben Close for the ineffective Thompson & Hawkins for the start of the second period.

The half started with Pompey seeing more of the ball & despite not really threatening it looked more of an even game. Rovers still looked sporadically dangerous though & Pompey had veteran left back Lee Brown to thank for an excellent block of a goalbound shot from Rovers striker John Marquis.

On the hour mark came an excellent chance for Pompey to take the lead but Rovers keeper Marosi brilliantly parried a close range strike from Pompey skipper Gareth Evans with the midfielder wastefully putting the rebound into the side netting. Encouraged by their near miss the visitors were having their best spell of the match & Marosi had to be at his very best to firstly making a brilliant save from Pitman, then blocking Evans rebound effort before Butler blocked Evans second effort off the line. Rovers were reduced to 10 men on 83 minutes when following a long punt upfield Marosi was rightly punished for handball out of his area to stop Pompey’s Curtis from reaching the ball. As Donny had used all their substitutes midfielder Ben Whiteman went in goal for the final few minutes but strangely Pompey went back into their shells for the remainder of the game with only a tame Curtis shot for Whiteman to field.

FT Rovers 0 Pompey 0

0-0 it may have been but boring this match wasn’t. Definitely a “game of two halves” & a draw was about right in the end.

words Ian Bradley, D3D4 Roving Reporter

MATCH REPORT: Morecambe 0-2 Oldham Athletic

Oldham fans made the Globe Arena home yesterday, as they outnumbered the home support by over 200. Their support was rewarded with a solid 2 – 0 win against a wasteful Morecambe side.

The first half chance of the game fell to the Shrimps in the 7^th minute after a nice move by the home side fell to Mills. His effort, however, was high and wide (and out of the stadium). Morecambe really should have taken the lead 4 minutes later when they caught Latics out from a smart free kick, Oates could only find the side netting from his shot on the right side of the penalty.

Oldham fans were getting slightly frustrated with their side, but this manifested into louder singing and the away side responded. Edmundson went close in the 20^th minute after O’Grady nodded down Taylor’s cross and Baxter couldn’t quite work through the defence in the 22^nd minute. Oldham’s persistent attacks were, rewarded in the 26^th minute after Morecambe failed to clear Hunt’s cross and O’Grady slotted the ball into the bottom right hand corner; a real poacher’s finish.

The noise level increased at the Globe Arena as Oldham fans celebrated this goal, but it only got louder when, 2 minutes later, Gevaro Nepomuceno capitalised on a slip from Mills to volley the ball into the top right corner – an emphatic finish from the Curacaoan winger.

Prior to these goals the home side had probably edged the game and may have felt unlucky to be 2 behind, but Oldham very much dominated the remainder of the half with Baxter and Branger-Engone having a couple of decent chances. The home side did, however, force a smart save from Iversen just before half time when Yarney headed low towards the bottom left hand corner.

HALF TIME: Morecambe 0 – 2 Oldham Athletic (O’Grady 26’, Nepomuceno 28’)

Morecambe came out in the second half fired up and the Latics defensive line was tested on several occasions. Clarke and Edmundson looked to make a good partnership at the back. The first real chance of the half came in the 54^th minute, when Mandeville cut in from the left and hit a shot towards the far right of the goal – Iversen made another fine save to deny the Doncaster loanee.

Iversen had been in fine form but made a bit of a fool of himself in and altercation with Oswell. The striker had made a slight rambunctious challenge for the ball and had caught the Dane. The referee had played advantage but Iversen felt the need to square up to Oswell – he was fortunate that the referee didn’t determine his actions to be a headbutt and he got away with just a yellow card.

In the 77^th minute, the visitors very nearly made it 3-0. Andy Taylor whipped in a dangerous freekick that resulted in a fabulous goalmouth scramble; the ball somehow was kept out and the Morecambe defence cleared.

In the 79^th minute, journeyman attacker Kevin Ellison was introduced and livened up what had so far been a wasteful Morecambe attack. He proved a real nuisance to the Latics defence.

Leicht-Smith almost brought the host back into the game when he beat the Latics defence and only had the keeper to beat. Once again, the Great Dane spread himself to keep the ball out.

Kevin Ellison very nearly scored in the 88^th minute when he headed towards goal but Daniel Iversen, once again, pulled off a tremendous save.

5 minutes of lethal attacking from the Latics won the game against a Morecambe team that is creating chances but just cannot find the goal. There is a foundation of a good team in Oldham, but there is still a long way to go to make themselves a side that can challenge at the top end of the table, they move up to 8^th and are now 3 games unbeaten. Meanwhile, Morecambe find themselves in 22^nd and really need to make the most of their chances if they are to survive this season.

Morecambe: Halstead, Mills, Old, Yarney, Conlan (Mendes Gomes 89), Mandeville, Fleming, Wildig, Oates (Ellison 79), Leitch-Smith, Oswell (Oliver 72). Subs not used: Sczepaniak, Kenyon, Cranston, Hedley.

Oldham Athletic: Iversen, Hunt, Clarke, Edmundson, Taylor, Branger (Graham 46), Gardner, Missilou (Maouche 84), Nepomuceno, Baxter (Lang 64), O’Grady. Subs not used: De la Paz, Benteke, Stott, Hamer.

Referee: Martin Coy.

Attendance: 3,050 (1,638 from Oldham)

words Chris Stringer, D3D4 Oldham Athletic correspondent