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The opening quarter of the game saw chances for both sides. Joe McKee had a rasping drive tipped over and Joe Jackson headed wide from a corner. Oldham meanwhile were looking dangerous with quick attacking play and were just unable to add the final touch to a number of good moves.
They did though break the deadlock around 25 minutes in. It's one that will see stern words for Ben Woodhead I'd expect as a right wing corner was curled straight in by the taker. Oldham didn't run away with it though and we grabbed an equaliser from a familiar source. We were awarded a free kick outside the box and Joe McKee stepped up. From a range of 25 yards this lad is clinical with a dead ball so it was no surprise as he curled it over the wall and beat the despairing dive of the keeper.
The half ended 1-1 and as we kicked off the 2nd and I'm sorry to say that a common theme with the Oldham teams I've seen started to rear its head. They really are a narky lot with limited vocabularies. Any refereeing decisions which didn't go their way were met with expletives towards the ref and he was forced to flash a yellow to the Oldham 8.
It wasn't long into the half and we managed to grab the lead. A surging run from Joe Jackson was halted near the box and McKee picked it up, turning inside and hammering home from 18 yards. The visitors replied instantly as a quick break and deflected shot beat Woodhead.
The game was becoming more and more feisty and the ref decided on an interesting tactic - he decided to stick his head in the sand. Both sides were putting in hard challenges and, while neither side were happy by the ref's choice to let everything go, it could have lead to injuries as the cantankerous number 9 went in hard and late on Dean Overson, ending his morning early. Ed Williams quite correctly pointed out that people were getting hurt and the ref should probably get a grip and was met with the pompous response 'I'm bossing this game'. Needless to say this was met with howls of derision from the touchline as he clearly wasn't bossing anything.
Curtis Woods replaced Dean Overson and Ross Wilson came on for the fading Evans. Minutes later we conceded a penalty and it was a stonewaller. Oldham pumped the ball up to the forward and Edwards challenged aerially but mistimed his jump and it was little more than a push. The Latics took the lead from the spot and Burnley were staring down the barrel.
With around 10 minutes remaining we were all treated to a rarity - certainly nothing I've ever seen in the flesh in over 25 years of watching the game. Ben Woodhead had the ball in his hands in the area and took a monstrous kick. It was going through to the keeper who took steps towards it but he misjudged the bounce and couldn't scramble back in time to stop it hitting the back of the net.
Again though we were instantly undone as Oldham won a corner and we contrived to give an opposition player acres of space in the box despite all 11 being back in defence. The ball dropped to the deck and was dispatched, with the game then being seen out with a 4-3 scoreline in favour of the visitors.
Team:- Ben Woodhead, Ed Williams, Steve Edwards, Dean Overson (Curtis Woods), Alex Coleman, Tommy Taylor, Joe McKee, Dave Lynch, Steven Hewitt, Adam Evans (Ross Wilson), Joe Jackson.
Subs not used:- Christian Thewliss, Archie Love, Alex Mullin