Plus-point for Latics: Huddersfield 1, Athletic 1

THAT’S MINE: Striker Lee Hughes is beaten to the ball by Town goalkeeper Alex Smithies as Athletic go in search of a second goal.

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IT is a measure of Athletic’s ambition that there were a sense of profound disappointment following the draw at Huddersfield Town.

You cannot fault manager John Sheridan for refusing to settle for second best because a winning mentality will be needed if they are to be promoted from Coca-Cola League One.

Yet on the face of it a point against the in-form Terriers, whose revival had been sparked by seven victories in their previous nine league matches, was a creditable result.

While Athletic have toiled at Boundary Park in recent weeks, it has been an altogether different story on their travels, where positive results have been instrumental in holding on to a play-off spot.

They arrived at The Galpharm Stadium having collected 10 points from a possible 12 on the road and for an hour it looked as though they were going to record their sixth away win in the league this season.

Mark Allott’s stunning sixth-minute goal — there won’t be many better efforts anywhere this season — was cancelled out by Michael Collins midway through the second half.

And on the balance of play a second draw of the campaign against Town was a fair result after a captivating contest.

It was like a throw back to Athletic’s glory days of the not-too-distant past, with a season’s best crowd of 16,951 urging their team on.

It was a similar story on the pitch, with a blood and thunder Roses clash played in the right spirit.

Athletic were far from their best — Sheridan was bitterly disappointed with the display — as they had to withstand long spells of Town pressure.

They did not help themselves by failing to do the basics — pass the ball to a player in a fluorescent yellow shirt.

But for all the possession they enjoyed, Huddersfield were unable to profit, which was due to a combination of resolute defending by Athletic and the lack of a cutting edge in the final third of the pitch from the hosts.

Athletic ’keeper Greg Fleming only had two saves to make of note, though both were super stops.

That was in part to Sean Gregan, who had a storming match and appears back to his brilliant best, and fellow central defender Reuben Hazell, who made several vital challenges.

At times, Town laid siege to the Athletic goal, the sort of battle Gregan relishes.

Kelvin Lomax had a difficult afternoon at left-back against Terriers man of the match Danny Cadamarteri. Lomax will not face a more tricky customer this season.

Athletic’s midfield, with Danny Whitaker recalled in a wide right position with Keiran Lee unfortunate to miss out, created their own problems.

They defended well, providing an additional shield to the back line, but they found themselves too often chasing opponents after carelessly surrendering possession.

Athletic’s midfield also lacked creativity and were unable to support the front two as Lee Hughes and Darren Byfield were often left in not-so-splendid isolation.

Keigan Parker had the ball in the Athletic net in the fifth minute only for Athletic to be saved by a referee’s assistant, who flagged for offside.

Allott broke the deadlock 60 seconds later when Kevin Maher’s corner was cleared to the midfielder, whose strike from outside the penalty area flew into top corner of the net.

Allott does not score many goals — this was only his third of the campaign — but they are usually spectacular efforts.

He nearly added a second goal not long after, with the Town ’keeper Alex Smithies scrambling across his six-yard area to direct the ball behind for a corner.

Athletic’s goal was rarely threatened in the opening period, though Fleming made a superb reflex save late on to thwart, Parker who was clean through.

It was fitting that it was the livewire Parker who would set up Town’s equaliser midway through the second period.

He ghosted past Neal Eardley and released Collins, who ran through on the left to cooly lift the ball over Fleming.

It might have been worse for Athletic late on as centre-half Andy Butler’s header from a corner was brilliantly clawed away by Fleming.

Yet Athletic might also have grabbed a late winner when substitute Andy Liddell set up Hughes, who ballooned his shot over the bar when you would have expected him to do better.




There was no spark — Sheridan



WHILE Huddersfield manager Lee Clark was praising Athletic, opposite number John Sheridan was highly critical of his side’s performance following their 1-1 draw at The Galpharm Stadium.



“Apart from the wonder goal (Mark Allott’s early effort), I thought we played poorly,” explained the Athletic boss. “I am not happy other than the fact we did not lose as I thought we were fortunate to get a point.”

Sheridan was disappointed with the team’s failure to pass the ball accurately, something he says they practice daily in training.

He continued: “We have good footballers in our side and we have a lot better quality than we showed out there.

“There was no spark and the only good thing was the goal, and I don’t think you will see a better one than that in any league. It would have been a great goal to win a game.”

Though Athletic extended their unbeaten run to nine league games, Sheridan again lamented the number of drawn matches as Saturday’s result was the fifth in that sequence.

“I would rather have lost two and won the remaining three as we would have three extra points,” he remarked.

Mark Allott believes his goal may have been the best he has scored in a career which has featured a number of other great efforts.

He said: “I can remember a number of other such goals, but this one was particularly pleasing.

“I caught it sweetly and, as soon as it left my foot, I knew it was going in.”

But Allott was disappointed Athletic did not take all three points, but thought a draw was a fair result.

Clark described Town’s performance as the best since he was appointed manager last month. He said it was especially pleasing as it was against opponents who he expects to be in the promotion mix.

He went on: “Make no mistake, Oldham are going to be in the top six and involved in the shake up at the end of the season.

“John has assembled a terrific squad on a shoestring budget and it has given him an opportunity to get out of the division.

“I had numerous battles with him on the pitch. He was a terrific footballer and I also like him as a man.”

Clark was also impressed with the quality of football in Saturday’s game, especially the two goals.

He continued: “Their lad hit a goal which will grace any stadium in any league in the world. We dusted ourselves down after conceding early on. We came out fighting and played well.

“We scored a terrific goal of our own through Michael Collins. There were two tremendous goals in what was a very good advert for League One football.”