From heroes to zeros

CLOSE CALL: Athletic’s Andy Liddell (right) heads off target with the score still at 0-0. Pictures by CHRIS SUNDERLAND

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Basic mistakes lead to first home defeat since March

Oldham 0, Yeovil 2 

CLICHÉS only become clichés when they hold an element of truth, and Athletic have been busy creating their very own over the last couple of years.

“It’d be typical Latics to beat Scunthorpe and then lose to a team like Yeovil” — I wouldn’t mind a tenner for every fan who uttered those words, or variations on the theme, before the Boundary Park double-header.

And lo, it came to pass, as Athletic produced a collective shocker to follow up their midweek triumph over the League One leaders . . . just call them The Unpredictables.

What could go wrong, did go wrong. They were so poor it defied all logic, and the habit of playing well against the better sides and slipping up against the strugglers was never in sharper focus.

Athletic went into Saturday’s match safe in the knowledge they could beat anyone at this level — they had faced every other member of the top six, taking maximum points from four of them (Scunthorpe, Millwall, Leeds and MK Dons) and drawing with the other (Leicester).

Winning against Yeovil was, in theory, an easier job. But this was Athletic, whose surprising results aren’t really a surprise. And, to give them the respect they were always due, “a team like Yeovil” turned out to be very good at executing their gameplan to perfection.

The visitors staged a classic away performance as they contained, harried, defended with stoicism and skill and then pinched a precious goal from a setpiece.

Three minutes later they were 2-0 up, with former Latics favourite Paul Warne exploiting dreadful work at the back and promptly earning a magnanimous round of applause.

Athletic could find little in response and, despite giving Yeovil’s ’keeper plenty to do over 90 minutes, they didn’t particularly deserve anything from the game.

Their unbeaten Boundary Park record, which stretched all the way back to March, came to a juddering halt, leaving boss John Sheridan utterly perplexed at the inconsistency of his players.

A few days earlier Sheridan had delighted in some excellent football. Now there were such basic errors as finding an opponent from six yards or passing straight into touch.

You never quite know which Athletic team are going to turn up at the moment, which makes life interesting, if rather confusing. Nonetheless, credit to Yeovil for cashing in.

They became the first side to prevent Athletic scoring at home since Hartlepool 15 games ago, with another ex-Boundary Park player, Gareth Owen, central to that achievement.

Home and away, Sheridan’s men have now lost four out of seven — clearly a worry — and it’s no great surprise that a shake-up of the squad is under way.

A high early tempo had been key against Scunthorpe, and Athletic were soon back on the front foot as Danny Whitaker’s shot deflected behind.

They went desperately close to the breakthrough after only seven minutes, but Yeovil ’keeper Asmir Begovic made a tremendous reaction save from Lee Hughes.

A quiet passage of play was broken midway through the half as Hughes set up Lewis Alessandra for an 18-yard drive — Begovic was again equal to the task.

Yeovil, however, sprung out of defence when Gary Roberts let fly from well outside the box and was unfortunate to see his effort flick the top of the bar.

Athletic’s sense of urgency had been replaced by anxious mistakes, although left-back Danny Jones was confident enough to hit a raking drive just wide.

The hosts might have had a penalty when their midweek hat-trick star, Alessandra, was dragged to the floor, but Yeovil’s plan to frustrate was going all too well.

Athletic needed to up their pace, and there was a fine chance in the 48th minute as Andy Liddell nodded off target from close range after Chris Taylor’s centre reached the far post.

Yet they remained sloppy until a quick break, launched by ’keeper Mark Crossley, saw Whitaker combine with Taylor before Begovic blocked the shot.

Though Yeovil had rarely threatened, there was the ever-present danger of them landing a sucker-punch — not that anyone, including the visitors, could have expected two in such rapid succession.

The way those goals were conceded will haunt Sheridan’s every waking hour this week. And, no doubt, the same applies to a few of his players.

The first foul-up came from a free-kick down the Yeovil right which midfield man Roberts sent over at pace.

Decent delivery, but that was no excuse for Athletic handing big centre-half Aaron Brown the freedom of the box to head home.

Yeovil’s second strike was just as bad, an almighty hoof out of defence finding Athletic at sixes and sevens and allowing Warne to get behind the back four.

At first Crossley opted to stay put, and when he belatedly came off his line Warne prodded beyond him into the vacant net.

Hughes almost pulled one back five minutes from time, but Begovic made another save to keep out the striker’s overhead volley.

Athletic are better than this — much, much better — but they need to start proving it more often, otherwise what is hopefully a blip will turn into something more serious.


Sheridan blasts ‘topsy-turvy’ Latics
JOHN SHERIDAN slammed the Jekyll and Hyde nature of his team after Athletic’s unbeaten home record was left in tatters.

The manager was relatively philosophical in defeat, but he said: “I can’t really explain what has happened this week.

“We beat the league leaders 3-0 and then went out and played like that. It’s very frustrating for all of us.

“I’m not being harsh, but that’s what you get from players at this level and we need to learn how to win games.

“It isn’t always about being attractive and getting praise from people, sometimes you just need to win in whatever manner.

“If you aren’t playing well you still look to take something from the game, even if it’s a 0-0 draw — and I would have accepted that.

“A draw is the least we should have taken, but Yeovil are fighting near the bottom of the table and we just never got going.

“I’m saying one thing one week and something totally different the next, but good players do the basics right in every game.

“If we’d had to accept a 0-0 draw, so be it. But we are topsy turvy and no-one is entitled to just turn up and win.

“I don’t know if that’s what the players thought, but the goals we gave away were down to complacency — and I could say the same about half the goals we’ve conceded this season.

“We switched off defensively for both of them and we didn’t play well going forward, even though we had chances for Danny Whitaker, Lee Hughes and a great chance for Andy Liddell.

“Yeovil will have known our strengths and weaknesses, but I thought it was a case of whoever scored the first goal would win the game.

“That should have been us, and if Lidds had scored early in the second half it would have been quite comfortable for us.

“It’s a shame to lose our excellent record in the manner we did, but the biggest disappointment is the opportunity we missed.

“We had a great chance to climb the table and get closer to the top two, and after the way we played against Scunthorpe I expected three more points.

“It doesn’t matter who you are playing — if you make mistakes and concede those goals you always make life very hard.

“We’ve done very well at home and we are still there or thereabouts, but there are one or two players who need to look at themselves.”

Yeovil manager Russell Slade said: “We are unbeaten in four games and we’ve deserved our change of fortune.

“This is probably in the top five results during my time at the club, so I’m delighted for the players and fans.”