FULL TIME! OLDHAM 2 SWINDON 1

[rudemedic]

FWIW their number 29- Branco. I haven't seen a player luckier to not get sent off at BP in many a year. He gets the red card he deserved after about 30 minutes, it would have been a whole different story.

[palmer1]

Great win. Swindon are the best team to visit Boundary Park by a country mile this season. Thought we showed to much respect at times and should have pressed higher but I ain't complaining really.

 

One thing I will say, if Brizzle & Franchise are as good as Swindon then whoever makes the play offs will have to step up. I wouldnt like to defend like tonight over 2 legs. Oh well long way to go yet.

[SavageTheBeast]

Every player played for each other today. Saturday is a totally different game were they will sit back and defence and hope to get a set piece with porter up top

[whitey1980]

FWIW their number 29- Branco. I haven't seen a player luckier to not get sent off at BP in many a year. He gets the red card he deserved after about 30 minutes, it would have been a whole different story.

Great point.

 

As excellent as they were in possession, they were lazy and cynical defensively. The tone was set by whoever pulled down Winchester after 5 minutes and it continued from there. The only reason that the referee did not penalise Branco for the clear pull back on Forte was that he would have had to send him off.

 

Cracking result that we earned through sheer graft and determination against a side who passed the ball as well as I have seen at this level for some time. All the players and management deserve enormous credit!!

 

On to Saturday!!

Edited February 10, 2015 by whitey1980

[Simoncorneyisgod]

All I can ever ask for from a player in an oldham shirt I saw tonight.....110% from every one apart from Murphy, all of willing to die for the cause.

 

Lean made some excellent saves, Mills stood up well against the best player I've seen at this level (couldn't see his name but he was excellent), George was well...George, Wilson was solid and B Wilson was excellent really back to his early season form.

 

Kelly was an inspiration making sure no one switched off, Mellis showed some nice touches and great work rate which was pleasing, Forte as dangerous as ever although he should have buried one 2nd half, Winch ran himself into the ground and Jones was excellent at the point of the diamond.

 

Wilkinson was on fire I hope it's just a tweak and he is alright, Murphy for me was the only (slight) let down but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, watched him closely and I just don't think he put a shift in....Wilkinson was really pressurising from the front which set the tone and when he went off Swindon suddenly started knocking the ball about a lot easier. Couple of times he didn't back his pace in the 2nd half and I just don't see him as a lone striker.

 

Can see him being excellent when we are on top and his movement will create chances but think he needs more time.

 

Hope this hasn't taken too much out of th boys and we can rip into Colchester from the whistle on Saturday

[AnthonyOAFC]

Superb win.

 

Lee Johnson interview:

https://audioboom.com/boos/2881777-hear-officialoafc-lee-johnson-after-the-2-1-win-over-swindon-bbcrmsport

[beag_teeets]

Got to be fair to Murphy, Wilkinson knows the lads and the team a lot better than he does as well as the system. Murphy was probably going to get 15 minutes tonight but the plan changed when Wilkinson's hamstring went.

 

I bet LJ just told him to plan his natural game, hell the team out, lead the line and play off Forte.

 

He held the ball up a few times, went down a few cul de sacs and have it away a couple of times but you can see he knows the game, some good movement and positioning at times. I look forward to seeing him when he's bedded in.

[Twisbrogan]

Wilkinson off as a precaution according to LJ. Hamstring felt tight, as it did on Saturday.

Edited February 10, 2015 by Twisbrogan

[daniel]

Wilkinson off as a precaution according to LJ. Hamstring felt tight, as it did on Saturday.

Not sure on that, i saw him say to LJ as he was walking off that it had gone, limping heavily at FT also! Hope he is fit soon as he was class tonight.

[whittles left foot]

That was definitely more than a tight hamstring.

 

Nobody has mentioned how strong the subs bench is now. Just about everyone on the bench is as strong as the player coming off and there are plenty of options position wise as well.

[ChaddySmoker]

They could have had two second half, let's call that even.

Get down to the bookies tomorrow and lump it on Swindon, excellent tonight-some of our players couldnt live with them but 3 points hey-ho.

I thought that Jones was awesome tonight and congrats to LJ, He got his tactics spot on! Murphy will do OK I reckon, just needs some service. Kelly as always v. good

Edited February 11, 2015 by ChaddySmoker

[astottie]

What a cracking game. Came out of the blocks and scored a well made and taken first goal. Second was laughable but a bit symptomatic of the way Swindon played. A little cocky and over ambitious at times. Nicely finished by Wilko and we missed him when he went off. I wasn't surprised the forte header was given offside so interesting to know it wasn't, however Swindon are such a good team I don't think 3-0 would have killed it.we did well to force Louongo further back as the game progressed but he still found a man with every pass. Did his shot take a deflection for the goal or did keane drop a bollock?

Keane did very well as did the central defenders . Everybody worked their socks off and I think Murphy is getting an unfair rap. He's not fit and was slow to react but he did seem to try and there were a couple of chances where he nearly scored.crossed

for forte when maybe he should have shot. I'd give him a few more games before writing him off

Just listened to their manager and I thought he was nearly fair if missing out a couple of our best chances

They are a terrific side who move the ball so quickly which at times rips us to bits but can also make them vulnerable. The keeper is superb when he's keeping but a liability when he thinks he's beckenbauer (or Tarkowski), right wing back for them was superb and I hope we don't get them in the play offs

Overall a bit lucky to win but some fantastic play and some real effort.

Oh and that attendance is desperate

Edited February 11, 2015 by astottie

[ghostofcecere]

Don't think it was a lack of effort from Murphy, he just looked out of his depth. I think being asked to play as a lone frontman isn't his strength either. He needs a few cameo appearances at this level and a bit more match fitness before he'll be ready I think.

[NewBlue]

The most heartening thing about the results is that, with us having a very tough run of home fixtures in the run-in, we have shown that we are more than capable of beating the league's best sides at home. It's a huge statement to put out to the quality opposition that will be coming to Boundary Park.

 

It's also excellent to hear that Mike Jones was tremendous today, as his level seems to have dropped recently, the same goes for Brian Wilson.

 

Now there is not a game I believe we can't win. Hopefully there will be a bumper crowd against Colchester and then a sell-out against Preston, in the event we extend this run to 4 wins. It's about time this team and the manager receives the home support it deserves.

[leeslover]

Wilkinson was standing outside waiting for a lift not long after FT, doubt he's seriously hurt himself.

 

Reading much into Murphy from that is crazy.

[rteoafc]

As someone said, got to give credit to LJ for the tactics from the start today, particularly as we've pointed out in the past when he's got it wrong ("look daddy, I can play with 3 at the back" being the classic example).

 

Swindon like to pass the ball around and have a keeper who clearly thinks he should be playing centre mid. As a result, our tactic of pressing them high and fast from the start with Wilkinson and Jones in particular paid dividends. We seemed to start the game with Jones up front and Forte, Mellis and Winchester behind from left to right - presumably a plan from LJ to use Jones's energy to press the defence?

 

Second half dropping off and defending was more forgivable tonight than it has been when defending a lead against mediocre opposition in the past. I'm not sure whether it was so much a tactic tonight; more that Swindon are just better than us and constantly pushed us back (that's not being negative: however much we enjoyed tonight, they did look a class above anything else we've seen this year).

 

Also, very good to see the whole team putting in a "Kelly" shift tonight. Tricky run coming up, we'll need more of that level of commitment.

[Hands on]

As good as they were we were better! Yes they had 8 shots on target to our 7 but we attacked well and defended well. Not quite Chelsea in defence but getting that way.

Swindon were arrogant, over confident and cynical. They waited too long to get some urgency. Their substitution when we were under the cosh allowed us to steady ourselves. The blatant attempt to take Forte out of the game early on could perhaps should have been a red card. The Forte header was on side - they checked the video behind me. Kean made some excellent saves, I suspect he was done for pace and the way the ball dipped and bounced as well as looking towards those lights which could do with raising and adjusting, couldn't see any shadows on the pitch from them. Murphy wasn't match fit but takes some nice positions.

[deyres42]

People do have the funniest opinions at times...

[welshgaz]

Its a compliment to their midfield that kelly didn't dominate and had no time on the ball.

[UpTheLatics]

Tremendous result. I haven't felt as nervous or excited during a home match for so long. First 25 we were excellent and if Wilkinson had remained on the field we would have scored another in the opening 45.

 

We were a little timid in the tackle and reacted about 15-20 yards too slow, but the defending on the edge of the box was superb.

 

As far as I'm concerned, that is the toughest it'll get at Boundary Park. No other team can pass and probe like that. We can match Bristol City and Preston over 90 minutes.

 

The foundations are in place...

[Chaddy_Ender]

People do have the funniest opinions at times...

I strongly agree, cant knock our spirit and heart but better team ? Dont get me wrong will take results like that all day long but for 60 minutes we were battered, thought Kean was tremendous barring the goal which looked to go through him, losing Wilkinson was a big loss, Murphy had a real baptism of fire and at times looked out of his depth but playing a lone striker role for 70 minutes wouldnt be a fair way to judge him, all in all a good result but lets not get giddy.

[Lee Sinnott]

Its a compliment to their midfield that kelly didn't dominate and had no time on the ball.

I thought he couldn't get anywhere near their 8 and 4...

[Fruitygoo]

I know he only got 10 minutes but i thought Poleon did well also.....he allowed us to get back to unsettling them and give them problems. His run down the right and pass to Forte was exactly what we needed at that stage of the game. I heard a few groans when he came on but Winchester had gone and in general, I think his play has improved the last few times i've seen him....

 

Forte holding the ball for at least a minute was nice as well....very confident. He's definitely best place out on the side as opposed to up top!

[Scapegoat]

Great result, some immense performances and something that will hopefully give the club a further shot in the arm (player confidence and fans wanting to come back).

 

 

In terms of the game, Swindon are a very good side and with the first half JPT performance by Preston that rates as the most worried I have been watching an opponent all season. Felt that the loss of Wilkinson impacted our rhythm and allowed Swindon to get back into the game and start to put us under pressure.

 

For the last 20 minutes of the first half and good chunks of the second we were under pressure - but generally handled that pressure well and limited Swindon's chances and those that came Keane did a good job (the goal was tricky to tell if he could have done better). The approach worked, in that we got a result and also we created some decent opportunities to kill the game on the break, but being critical I thought that we were too willing to drop too deep too early.

 

There were too many times for me that we allowed Swindon to have the ball unchallenged in their area (e.g. not pressuring throw-ins etc) that allowed them to dictate the game too much. We could/should be able to take more control of the game and make them have more to worry about.

 

On the plus side we won't play too many games against teams as good as these, but if Bristol City and MK Dons watch that DVD I think they will fancy their chances to score if we give them that much time on the ball.

 

 

But, these are minor points. Overall a great game of entertaining football with a superb result that hopefully sets us up for an exciting run in.

[rudemedic]

I thought he couldn't get anywhere near their 8 and 4...

He put Luongo, their #4, in his pocket in the first half. Problem was he couldn't put Luongo, Resik (#8) and Gladwin (#7) all in his pocket during the second half with tiring players alongside him.