Late twist is so tough

Photo: Max Flego

TOE TO TOE... Athletic midfielder Dean Furman (far right) and Leyton Orient’s Tommy Carroll battle for the ball.

Leyton Orient 1, Athletic 0
Wonder strike cruel on Latics after away-day defiance
GIVEN Athletic’s current form — or complete lack of — on the surface this result holds no surprises.

Without a victory since Hartlepool were clinically dispatched by a four-goal margin at Boundary Park at the start of last month, manager Paul Dickov has had to cope with his side’s pivotal performers all losing their mojo simultaneously.

Gone, for now at least, are the days when off-colour striker Oumare Tounkara would terrorise opposition defences as Chris Taylor, Filipe Morais and Aidan White fashioned chance after scoring chance for a team full of fluidity and threat.

Again here at Brisbane Road, in common with the majority of the other eight matches which have passed since Athletic last picked up three npower League One points, the opposition goalkeeper had an all-too quiet shift.

But when confidence among the squad is fragile, the key to even the mildest success lies in nothing more sophisticated than pure graft.

Work harder than your opponent and concentrate harder than ever to minimise costly errors: this is Dickov’s mantra.

For the 245 visiting fans at Brisbane Road, it may not have been the prettiest of game plans.

It was effective, though. That is, right until the moment, three minutes from the end of regular time, when on-loan Tottenham midfielder Paul-Jose Mpoku lashed home a brilliant right-footed strike from 30 yards out which Athletic goalkeeper Ben Amos could only stand and reluctantly admire.

Did it take a deflection on the way? Possibly. The way the ball swerved and dipped viciously suggests White may have inadvertently gotten a big toe in the way.

What is for sure is that it was tough luck on Athletic. Defensively sound and boosted by a couple of excellent Ben Amos saves, the job had appeared all-but done in terms of stifling the threat of Orient’s in-the-groove attackers.

At the heart of the visitors’ impressively obdurate efforts was James Tarkowski, who certainly didn’t deserve to be on the losing side.

Dickov and his assistant Gerry Taggart had preached in the build-up to the trip to London the need for defenders to get stuck into those often-painful areas which can suppress then best forwards.

Tarkowski — a second-year scholar who headed, harried, tackled and blocked without unnecessary complication all afternoon — did just that alongside his impressed co-conspirator and captain Reuben Hazell in central defence.

If his manager showed faith in the 18-year-old by naming him ahead of senior pros Neal Trotman and Andy Todd, it was repaid with a level of interest way above the base rate.

Dean Furman came into Dickov’s starting line-up for the first time in four matches, rekindling his effective partnership with Dale Stephens dubbed one of the division’s best by Dickov.

The pairing were unable to get a grip on the game in the opening stages as Orient — understandably overflowing with confidence after a run of 12 matches without a league defeat — stroked the ball around attractively.

The first-half scoring chances belonged almost exclusively to Russell Slade’s side.

Dean Cox hammered a left-footed shot from outside the penalty area to force a sharp Amos stop, Andrew Whing missed his kick completely when the ball fell invitingly to him only a handful of yards out and Matthew Spring warmed Amos’s palms with a long-range headed effort.

Athletic’s best chance — if this isn’t covered under the trade descriptions act — came when Chris Taylor couldn’t quite extend far enough to connect with a floated Stephens pass into the area, home ’keeper Jamie Jones collecting.

Orient’s most presentable first-half opportunity arrived eight minutes before the break.

Initially, right-back Kieran Lee did well to move across left to cover the danger as the home team swept forward. With Lee drawn out of position, the ball was moved to Orient’s left flank, where Cox hit a side-footed shot which brought a superb low left-handed stop from Amos — not before many of the home supporters had already started to celebrate a goal.

Charlie Daniels hit a scorching 40-yard free-kick narrowly over after Furman picked up an 11th yellow card of the season and Orient had loud penalty appeals, led by ex-Bury man Stephen Dawson, turned down by referee Rob Lewis after an alleged push.

After the break, Athletic exerted far more control and restricted Slade’s side to great effect up until a trio of substitutions saw Jonathan Tehoue, Scott McGleish and Mpoku enter the fray.

Before that, Furman was hauled off on the hour to protect him from picking up a second yellow card — a sensible precaution, perhaps, given referee Lewis’s often strange rule interpretations.

Athletic’s best chance of getting a goal came five minutes later. Morais hammered a shot from the left side of the area which was goal-bound but blocked superbly by the flying body of Whing, who recovered and stopped with his hand — probably purely by accident — the same player’s attempted cross.

Morais and Taylor both hit off-target efforts and Athletic appeared to be comfortable.

That is, until Orient’s replacements began to show their hand.

Tehoue would have been in on goal, but for a heavy touch which saw Amos scoop up a loose ball and McGleish had his low shot well saved seconds later.

Spring hit an effort which was narrowly off-target as Orient built up a head of steam in the final 10 minutes — and then came Mpoku’s super strike.

Dickov threw on Trotman up front for the final few minutes but, save for a shot the player more usually recognised as a centre-back sliced wide — and somehow picked up a corner for — Athletic couldn’t produce anything of note in an attacking sense.


Latics’ next game: Saturday — Brighton (home), npower League One