Colchester 2, Oldham 2: Fighting spirit maintains positive start to season

THE giant electronic scoreboard at the Weston Homes Community Stadium marks Taylor’s opening goal which sparked Athletic’s comeback from 2-0 down

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IT'S amazing what you can find on a restaurant menu nowadays.

Travelling around the country watching Athletic, I've been offered crocodile in Devon, ostrich in Cardiff and kangaroo in Bournemouth. So much for using local ingredients.

Best of all came before Athletic's weekend game at Colchester when we happy band of media folk (collective term: a rabble) gathered at the hotel to be confronted by 'Grilled wahoo and wilted greens'.

"Forget that, I'm having steak and chips," said Gordon, the more generously furnished member of our party. "And what is wahoo anyway?" added Website Stu, clearly not a man of culture like what I am.

Wahoo, we discovered, is fish, and it came back up – not literally, thank goodness – after Athletic salvaged a defiant point.

They had been 2-0 down and heading for their first league defeat of the season, but then came a terrific fightback powered by never-say-die attitude. So it was two wahoos in 24 hours.

Looking back in a few months' time, this away draw with Colchester may well be proved an excellent result for John Sheridan and his players.

Okay, they dropped to second and lost their 100-per-cent record in match number four, but there was more evidence of the potential to push for promotion.

Sheridan reverted to the starting XI from last week's victory over Cheltenham, with striker Craig Davies not even making the subs' bench after completing his three-match ban.

And Athletic began in workmanlike fashion, falling well below their best recent form but denying Colchester any sight of goal.

They gradually took charge before hitting the woodwork through Andy Liddell, yet a moment of sleepy defending was punished in the 42nd minute.

And after Colchester's Mark Yeates scored again to claim the first two goals at the Weston Homes Community Stadium (which is nice, by the way, and infinitely better than Layer Road), Athletic had a mountain to climb . . . . dig out the crampons.

The fact they halved the deficit within one minute was a crucial step on their ascent, reminding Colchester this would be no easy victory.

Chris Taylor's fourth strike in as many games prompted a hectic last half-hour, which was capped when Deane Smalley pounced two minutes from time.

Here was another case of Athletic turning the match with their substitutes – the same thing happened when they beat Millwall from 3-1 down – and also of Sheridan choosing the right options from those on the bench.

Luck or good judgement? A bit of both, but these variables are working out nicely and it all helps to keep the bandwagon on course.

After a 10-minute delay due to congestion at the turnstiles, referee Paul Taylor ensured the game had a frustratingly stop-start opening.

He would eventually dish out six yellow cards and annoy both managers at the same time, quite a feat even for the most clueless of officials.

There was only a Lee Hughes shot at the 'keeper, followed by Scott Vernon's header off target, to pierce the gloom of the first 20 minutes.

Neither side could get their creative players on the ball, although that was down to the uglier side of football being carried out to good effect.

After half an hour Athletic began to involve Taylor far more, and he was part of a bright move which saw Lewis Alessandra lay off to Danny Whitaker, who fired just wide.

The 39th minute almost brought a magnificent team goal for the visitors as Kelvin Lomax broke away and Whitaker fed Liddell 16 yards out – Liddell's first-time piledriver crashed back off the far post.

Colchester were being stifled, yet they promptly scored against the run of play by finishing off their first clear chance.

Yeates was picked out by ex-Latics man Vernon and, unmarked inside the box, he arrowed his shot beyond Mark Crossley into the bottom corner.

It was the first goal Athletic had conceded in three league games, but there could have been another when Vernon found space at a set piece.

Sheridan's men then squandered possession on the break and were pushed back until Yeates produced a smart turn outside the box and doubled his tally with a ferocious drive.

Athletic, however, responded straight away as Hughes passed to Taylor, who outpaced John White and slotted inside the far post from eight yards.

There was an instant rise in the game's tempo, though Colchester remained a threat and Clive Platt headed against the woodwork.

What had started as a drab encounter was now open and entertaining, with the two goalscorers, Yeates and Taylor, leading the way for their sides.

Athletic were not going down without an almighty battle, and they dragged themselves back to 2-2 after Neal Eardley was rewarded for his latest attacking burst.

The full-back won a free-kick down the right, delivering it himself before Hughes set up Smalley for a close-range finish.

Athletic almost pulled off a stunning win as Chris O'Grady was denied in stoppage time, but they had already shown enough character to prove, once again, that they are well worth watching.Never-say-die



Athletic earn Sheridan seal of approval

JOHN SHERIDAN praised the spirit of his team after Athletic maintained their unbeaten start in League One.

Twice this season they have found themselves two goals behind with less than half an hour to play – and they have taken four points from those games.

The manager said: " It's the sign of a decent team when you can react like that, so I'm pleased with the way things are going.

"Obviously you don't want to be two down very often, but the players are fighting for each other and getting their rewards.

"For the last couple of years we have struggled to come from behind and it has cost us points, but hopefully that has changed.

"Even in pre-season we came back against Derby and Hull, and I'm pleased we got something against Colchester because we deserved it.

"In the first half I was comfortable and we probably should have scored, so it was frustrating to go in 1-0 down.

"People switched off for the goal, but I told the lads to have the same belief as me – I felt confident we could take at least a point.

"Their second goal came from a mistake in the other half of the pitch, although being fair to the lad (Mark Yeates) it was a great strike.

"Even then I wasn't giving up, and you can't knock the players' spirit when they come from 2-0 down in any game.

"We came here to win, which you could see from the way we played. As the away team we took the game to Colchester.

"They are going to be one of the strongest teams in the division, but I thought we contained them quite well and could even have won it at the end."

Athletic winger Chris Taylor is now only one goal short of equalling his tally for the whole of last season.

And Sheridan added: "Chris is improving as a player, he's learning all the time and working out how to create space.

"He knows defenders will double up on him, but he's learning how to get round that and use his ability.

"He's an attacking winger, so hopefully he will carry on performing well and keep scoring goals.

"It's good to have a few players in decent form and, like I've said before, I think we've got a chance this season."