Fun in the sun for Latics : Oldham 4, Hereford 0

WELL DONE, MATE: Daniel Jones is congratulated by team-mates after scoring the third goal

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THEY say there are no easy games in League One . . . but some are much, much easier than others.

Athletic went out for a casual Sunday afternoon stroll in the autumn sunshine and returned with three points — it really was as simple as that.

After surrendering their unbeaten record the previous weekend, John Sheridan’s men had no such problems with a banana-skin match against the division’s totally outclassed, hapless bottom team.

One can only hope, for their own sake, that Hereford don’t play like this every week. But Athletic showed no mercy in a flowing performance and have already blasted 15 goals in five home league games.

They had victory sewn up within 36 minutes, exposing a massive gulf in quality between one side in good heart near the top and another who face a desperate battle for survival.

At times in the first half Athletic were as unstoppable as Hereford were pitiful. The visitors showed an amazing lack of resistance and were systematically taken apart.

The first goal demonstrated exactly what Athletic had missed in last week’s defeat at Stockport, where umpteen chances were created and squandered.

At Edgeley Park there was no Lee Hughes, but now he was back with all his predatory instincts. Right place, right time, and the striker’s tally was up to six for the season.

Next came a penalty, won by Hughes and converted by Andy Liddell — that was five goals this term, including three in three outings, for the veteran wide man.

And Athletic saved their best for the final leg of the match-winning salvo as left-back Daniel Jones marked his home debut with a great strike which rewarded his potent alliance with Chris Taylor.

The powerful Jones, on loan from Wolves, looks a terrific prospect — he loves to attack and was little more than a high-speed blur of tangerine boots and blonde locks as he charged forward from defence.

At 3-0 there was no chance whatsoever of Hereford fighting back and, though they did unscramble their senses, they had Stephen O’Leary sent off before Athletic landed another blow through Danny Whitaker.

All told, this was an ideal fillip for Sheridan’s side as they look ahead to the Boundary Park showdown with Leicester City on Saturday (the home match after that, incidentally, is against current leaders Scunthorpe).

They had gone three without a win until yesterday’s rout, in which any Hereford masterplan to sit back, defend and frustrate was blown away in the early stages.

Athletic’s flying start was partly down to weak Hereford defending, but they had already played some bright football before Hughes pounced in the fourth minute.

Taylor and Jones combined down the left, Jones had his 20-yard shot fumbled by ’keeper Darren Randolph and Hughes was stationed to fire in the loose ball.

It was a clear mistake by Randolph, although his side could have pulled level within two minutes as Toumani Diagouraga’s effort was blocked near the line.

Athletic got over a defensive wobble and were always dangerous in attack, with Hughes flicking Kelvin Lomax’s cross off target before the hosts struck again.

There was a rare assist for Athletic ’keeper Mark Crossley, whose long first-time clearance invited Hughes to steal behind the Hereford back four with Bruno N’Gotty on his tail.

N’Gotty’s challenge in the box seemed clumsy rather than a deliberate foul, but there was only going to be one outcome after a penalty was given: Liddell beat Randolph with aplomb.

Confidence flowed through Sheridan’s players, and Taylor curled just wide from 20 yards after Craig Davies provided the build-up.

More good work between Taylor and Jones found Hughes for a chance he miscued, but the deadly left-wing duo were soon conjuring up an absolute treat to make it 3-0.

Athletic regained possession in midfield and the impressive Whitaker found Taylor, who saw Jones bombing on ahead.

Taylor’s slide-rule ball teed up his sidekick perfectly, and Jones careered into the box before drilling an unstoppable shot into the far corner.

Hereford struck the crossbar through Kris Taylor, but they only tested Crossley once before half-time — he saved an earlier drive by Bradley Hudson-Odoi — despite the ’keeper being in obvious pain.

Number-two Greg Fleming, having gone on at the break for his English league debut, did well to deny Steve Guinan before Jones also protected the clean sheet with a spectacular last-ditch clearance.

The visitors needed a turnaround of epic proportions if they were even going to give Athletic a scare, never mind rob them of points.

And while Hereford’s share of possession increased, most of the second-half openings still fell the other way as Davies, Taylor, Mark Allott and Lewis Alessandra all went close.

Hereford’s red card came in the 82nd minute as midfield man O’Leary, who had just been booked for bringing down Jones, clattered into Allott.

The only remaining question was whether Athletic could score again. And they completed their demolition when Whitaker got on the end of a counter-attack and slid home via the post from 14 yards.




League table was inspiration, says chief



JOHN SHERIDAN felt a blow to his players’ pride was among the driving forces in their win against Hereford.



Athletic had slipped to sixth in the table while inactive on Saturday, but they responded with a vengeance to go back to third.

Sheridan said: “I expected us to drop down when we weren’t playing, but it didn’t look right because we’ve been in the top three all season.

“All the lads were saying the same. They didn’t like it, so I didn’t have to do much talking before the game — they all just helped each other.

“First and foremost it was about the result, but our level of performance was very good.

“To score four and keep a clean sheet is very pleasing. We had taken two points from our last three games, but it helped that we started well by setting the tempo.

“Once we were 2-0 up I felt very comfortable and, although Hereford had one or two chances, anyone could see we’re a decent team.

“Our next game is against one of the biggest and best teams in this division (Leicester), but we showed we have the ability to beat them.

“I’m sure everyone is looking forward to next week, but we had to beat Hereford first and we’ve done a good job.

“Our downfall over the last two seasons was that we didn’t always perform against so-called lesser teams, but we got the result we wanted by playing very well.

“More than anything I’m pleased with a clean sheet, but we’re scoring goals this season because we’re creating lots of opportunities.

“We’re doing our best to take the game to the opposition. The early goals helped and after that we took control.

“Lee Hughes was alive to the chance when he put us in front, and that’s the kind of situation where he shows his quality.

“To be fair, I thought the penalty for the second might have been harsh, but then Daniel Jones came up with a great goal. From there, it was pretty much over.”

Hereford manager Graham Turner was furious with his team’s first-half display, admitting: “We’ve lost a lot of games by the odd goal, but this has been a bit of an eye-opener for the players.

“I’ve been fairly quiet in criticising them, but Oldham are one of the division’s strongest teams and for 45 minutes we didn’t compete. It was unacceptable.”