Latics staring into oblivion

Photo: Pictures by TERRY PARKER

BORN TRYER:Reuben Reid, Athletic’s best player at Huish Park, displays a determined attitude against his markers.

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Yeovil 3, Athletic 1

No signs of light as usual failings surface again

THERE may yet be light at the end of this season’s very long tunnel. But for now, at least, Athletic are stumbling around in the pitch black.

The season is only just over a week old, but moods can only have been darkened by this overwhelmingly poor display.

A first half that ended strongly for the visitors after a shoddy opening – Matt Smith could and should have netted his first professional goal to give Paul Dickov’s men the advantage shortly before the half-time whistle – gave way to all-too familiar failings after half-time.

Gavin Williams was the star of the show for the Glovers, a side tipped to struggle on a low budget and who had lost both their opening games of the campaign by two goals to nil.

Operating in the ‘hole’ behind and between two split strikers, former Bristol City man and Wales international Williams was at the heart of Yeovil’s swift attacks which created gaps of a scale you could steer a warship through.

Ed Upson profited from Williams slamming a free-kick into the Athletic wall four minutes into the resumption of play, controlling and powering a right-foot shot from the edge of the area which gave Alex Cisak precious little chance.

Just as against Sheffield United a week earlier, best-laid plans in the half-time team talk were ripped to pieces.

But if there wasn’t too much Athletic could have done about the opener, nobody expected its effect to be so dramatic in ripping out the enthusiasm of the team.

Comprehensively beaten in one-on-one duels all over the pitch, few players emerged from the ordeal with too much credit.

Reuben Reid battled away gamely up front, feeding off scraps along with Matt Smith, Kieran Lee performed in his usual admirable way on the right of the pitch and James Wesolowski was a busy figure attempting to fight fires as they broke out with worrying regularity.

However, following the old cliché, it is difficult to take out too many positives on an afternoon on which news of captain Dean Furman’s knee injury brought further gloom.

Andy Williams, who had struck Cisak’s left-hand post after being afforded a surreal amount of room to turn and fire in a shot from just inside the area after half-an-hour, profited from untouchable namesake Gavin’s wizardry after 74 minutes.

Slaloming past a static defence after picking the ball up deep, he virtually laid a goal on a silver platter for the scorer who ran on to the ball to side-foot low and true under Cisak.

By that stage, Josh Parker had just been introduced on the left wing.

But as Athletic went to a 3-4-3 formation to try to get a foothold in the game, a horrible slip in possession by captain Zander Diamond gave substitute Kieran Agard a run on goal down the left flank and as he approached the target, the forward was bundled over in the penalty area by a retreating Lee.

It should have already been 3-0 by then – left-back Nathan Jones hammered a good chance inches over as Yeovil broke on the counter-attack with pace – but Paul Wotton made amends by squeezing his spot-kick in off the underside of Cisak’s torso.

Reid’s well-taken penalty in the second minute of added time came after his own driving run and pass had enabled Parker to skip past Luke Ayling, who upended the pacy youngster.

Athletic’s sole scorer this season could have grabbed the opening goal after only 38 seconds.

As Smith rose to nod Matthew Lund’s free-kick back across the goalmouth, the former Rotherham and West Brom forward instinctively headed the ball at goal but into the arms of Glovers goalkeeper Jed Steer.

This was a false dawn. Black did brilliantly to block a goal-bound effort from Gavin Williams after one of many strong runs out wide by the home side, this from Andy Williams. Athletic were vulnerable to long deliveries down the channels all afternoon, with on-loan Tottenham striker Jon Obika’s pace proving particularly troublesome.

Ayling did well to block a fierce Filipe Morais volley behind for a corner and Lund had a low 20-yarder saved low by Steer as Athletic found their feet midway through the first half.

Obika caused a few nervous moments and Andy Williams hit a post before Smith’s big opportunity was followed by a pair of crosses from Morais and Lund that whizzed across the goalmouth, the former deflected away by the alert Max Ehmer.

After Upson’s second-half strike, Lund immediately hit a 20-yard effort first time which Steer dived to push around the corner.

It wasn’t, though, a sign that further concerted pressure was to arrive.

Obika fluffed his lines on a couple of occasions as fired-up Yeovil built a head of steam, before the striker was forced to retire hurt following a crunching Diamond tackle for which the defender picked up a yellow card.

It wasn’t a pretty challenge by any means, but at least it was decisive.

Athletic, hesitant and plodding in possession and unable to plot a path back into the game, were anything but.