The Cobblers have never had a good record at Boundary Park and until last season it looked like a ground where we would always worry about visiting. That was until loan man Alex Russell powered home a long range effort last Autumn and ended a barren run at Oldham’s home. But this season’s Latics are a different breed. Experienced heads in Lee Hughes and Dean Windass lead the front line and experience is the key to their position in the upper echelons of League One.
Stuart Gray, however, now faces a different story. Whereas last season’s February brought a sense of hope of an outside playoff hope, this season’s brings us to a point of looking down the table rather than up it. Just five points now separate us from the bottom four and a hectic fixture list won’t work in our favour with a threadbare squad.
So what to take from defeat at Oldham, given to the home side by one of those old heads Windass who nodded in what turned out to be the winner in the second half? Defensive lapses from set plays once again caused the Cobblers’ downfall and just eight minutes into the game Reuben Hazell headed home a free kick to give Oldham the lead that would not be sacrificed.
Adebayo Akinfenwa, returning to the squad from injury, had a shot deflected wide five minutes later but that was to be our best effort of a poor first half following the opening goal. At the other end, Deane Smalley thought he was about to add to the tally for the home side but Mark Hughes came up with a superb block at the last to at least preserve the Cobblers until the break.
It was in the second half that Dean Windass really made his mark. The striker can do no wrong at the moment after last week’s heroics at Leicester where he played for 40 minutes in goal and kept a clean sheet. The man who fired Hull into the Premier League last season is really making his mark on League One and influenced the majority of Oldham’s best moves, chipping over the bar ten minutes into the half before having a header cleared off the line.
But he wasn’t to be kept at bay for long and looked to have won the game on the hour mark with a header from a corner, frustratingly for Stuart Gray another set piece not dealt with.
From out of nowhere, the Cobblers were right back in the game within seven minutes as Andy Holt delivered a good cross from the left hand side for Adebayo Akinfenwa to head home past Jan Budtz in the Oldham goal and suddenly the comfort of the home fans turned a little to unease.
With a quarter of the game to go, we hoped for pressure on the home side’s goal, prayed for a second wind to come from Bayo’s goal, but sadly it didn’t come and neither side registered another decent attempt on goal in the closing stages.
So Stuart Gray now has to pick us up from three successive league defeats and just five points from the last 24 available. Whether it’s new loan signings coming in, a change of approach or getting a settled squad together, something is needed to relight the season before we get dragged into an entirely dangerous relegation scrap.
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