On a clear and relatively warm day in Oldham, Crew managed to hold the Latics to a draw thanks to a last-minute goal from George Ray.
The game started evenly, Oldham had the most possession in the first 10 minutes but weren’t doing much with it. The first real chance of the game fell for Zak Dearnley in the 12th minute; Callum Lang nodded the ball for the on-loan striker who hit a skilful volley into the hands of Garatt, who had positioned himself well.
This saw Oldham perk up a little, with a couple of chances for Baxter. The first goal of the game, though, was Callum Lang’s beautiful lob of the keeper: Iversen got hold of the ball and played a long ball diagonally upfield before the ball bounced and Lang simply tapped the ball over the head of Garatt and wheeled away in celebration.
Oldham created one or two more chances in the half but took their foot off the pedal a little bit and this allowed Crewe a couple of chances. Paul green had two good opportunities to score against his former team, having a long-shot well saved by Iversen and a close-range shot put wide (which, in truth, he should have scored).
Oldham ended the half on top, with some nice passing (as you’d expect from a side under the guidance of Paul Scholes). Branger had a chance blocked and the side pressed but couldn’t find the net. Latics’ looked confident going into the break but had to continue the positivity into the second half if they were to secure the result.
The second 45 kicked off quite even with both sides cancelling each other out and the first chance didn’t come until the 54th minute, when Branger crossed to Dearnley – the young striker headed straight at the keeper.
In the 57th minute, an injured Callum Lang was replaced by Chris O’Grady and this really changed the tempo of the game for Latics. Oldham had a chance through Peter Clarke in the 59th minute but beyond this, the home side sat back, and Crewe looked to press.
Particularly in the last 10 minutes, Crewe were in the ascendency. Though Oldham looked fairly composed at the back, it was clear they were sat too deep and as such invited pressure. In the 93rd minute, Crewe got their reward for the pressure as Ray bundled in a scrappy goal from within the 6-yard box.
It was a difficult match for both teams today, with the pitch in a poor state following the recent wintery weather and a referee that enjoyed stopping the game at every point he could. Oldham looked the better side for much of the game but have paid the price for sitting back for large swathes of the game. Crewe got their reward for a positive final 15 minutes, though, on balance, were perhaps been slightly fortunate to get a draw from the game even if it is not entirely unjust.
Attendance: 5288 (509 Away)
Oldham Athletic
Iversen, Hunt, Clarke ©, Edmundson, Nepomuceno, Dearnley (Benteke 75’), Missilou, Maouche, Branger-Engone, Baxter (Sylla 62’), Lang (O’Grady 57’)
Crewe Alexandra
Garratt, Ng, Pickering (Taylor-Sinclair 67’), Ray ©, Porter, Bowery (Miller 75’), Ainley, Nolan, Wintle (Lowery 53’), Green, Kirk
words Chris Stringer, D3D4 Oldham Athletic correspondent