Youth title dreams dashed

James Craggs

The lads were dead tired and we all know that. According to parent though they were totally fired up for this game and were desperate to win this league. It just never clicked against Oldham though and for large periods of the match we put on a disjointed display. In fact the first half hour was totally bereft of attempts on goal. When the keepers finally started seeing the ball they were rarely troubled.

Oldham had two long range shots and we had efforts through a Chris Lynch header over the bar and a shot on the run from Chris Anderson which was blocked off in the box and bobbled through to the keeper. Action picked up a little in the final 5 minutes of the half though. We finally got the ball down and put together a good passing move and, when Dil Chaggar crossed and James Craggs knocked down, Liam Newman was forced to stretch a little too much and his shot flew over.

At the other end Oldham put a direct free kick wide following a foul from Jake McEneaney - a nothing challenge which the referee chose to book him for. It looked more like he did so following repeated request from the Oldham captain, who I'm told attempted to officiate the game when we visited Oldham in the cup this year.

The 2^nd half was about two seconds old when the Oldham skipper picked up a booking of his own for a shocking challenge on Anderson in the centre circle. Was it worthy of the same punishment which was handed out to McEneaney? It deserved far more but our lads didn't push this on the man in black.

The opening quarter hour of the half was much the same as the 1^st half, with little or nothing to shout about. The hosts should have scored from an in swinging free kick but the attacker arriving at the far post stabbed wide. We made a change to try and freshen things up as Dom Knowles replaced Newman. We also saw Chaggar and Michael King swap flanks.

It didn't work though and we started to look more and more ragged, with a little desperation creeping into our play. Due to this Oldham began to get on top. A keeper blunder nearly gifted them a goal but they fluffed the glorious chance. They then had two more gilt edged chances, including a one-on-one, but again failed to capitalise.

We started to throw more forward but we were now getting frantic and lacked composure. In the last minute a cock-up in the Oldham defence looked to have let Craggs in but he was forced wide round the keeper and could only lay it back to Chaggar, who saw his shot shovelled round the post. We also saw the spectacle of Stef Ritchie in the Oldham box for a corner but it was all to no avail as the hosts played for time and ground out the draw. During the course of the last 15 minutes Oldham didn't even attempt to beat us - they were happy to merely deny us the win and spoil the party.

We now have one game remaining in the season, away to Preston on Monday. The fact that these lads have nothing to show for their season at this level is disappointing for them. We are always told that it is not about results. They deserved a winners medal this year and have been a joy to watch at times. Denied on penalties in the league cup, downed by an academy side in the FA Cup, beaten finalists in the LFA Cup and thwarted by severe fixture congestion in the league. With a little more luck to go with the undoubted quality we could have had a number of trophies this year.

Team:- Stef Ritchie, Kenny Strickland, Jake McEneaney, Nik Kudiersky, Chris Lynch, Dil Chaggar, Michael King, Chris Anderson, Alex-Ray Harvey, James Craggs, Liam Newman (Dom Knowles).
Subs not used:- Danny McDonald, Dan Brown, Oliver Devenney.