Stalemate for Latics

Latics fought out a goalless draw with Barrow in front of 7,170 fans at Boundary Park.

It was a game the hosts dominated, with the scoreline overshadowing a good performance from Latics.

With the loss of captain Tom Conlon in midweek with a knee injury possibly ruling him out for the season and defender Donovan Daniels also injured, manager Mickey Mellon brought Will Sutton back into the side in central defence and Reagan Ogle played at right back.

Midfielder Tom Pett wore the captain’s armband.

The first half was a very physical affair with Barrow at all times keeping a very defensive line which the strike force of Joe Quigley and Michael Mellon found difficult to penetrate.

The first chance of the game fell to Luke Hannant after 12 minutes.

Ogle floated a high cross from the right into the Barrow penalty box, keeper Wyll Stanway came out but could not stop Quigley getting to it first and laying the ball back to Luke Hannant, but his shot was over the bar.

It was 20 minutes before the visitors had their first goal effort, Latics' keeper Matt Hudson saving a shot from Ben Whitfield.

Quigley and Hannant then had shots wide of the post before, at the other end, Whitefield came closest to scoring just before the break but fired over the bar from a left wing cross.

The second half started with a flurry and Latics came closest to scoring in the 47th minute.

Mellon fired a low shot which came back off the post.

Quigley was first to the rebound but somehow his shot was saved on the line by Stanway and Jackson and scrambled away.

Barrow then had a couple of efforts from Isaac Fletcher and Rekeem Harper but both were high and wide.

On the hour Jake Caprice came on for Reagan Ogle and a couple of minutes later after some good approach play from Latics the newly introduced substitute ended the move by firing just wide.

Latics pressed forward for a potential winner, with man of the match Ryan Woods continually creating space in midfield and delivering the ball into dangerous areas.

Kai Payne’s shot was blocked on 71 minutes, and then Mellon forced a save from Stanway.

One minute later, Joe Garner made his first appearance since Wembley when he stepped up from the bench to replace Quigley.

Latics final substitution came ten minutes from time when Mike Fondop came on for the industrious Luke Hannant.

Two minutes into stoppage time the fans thought Latics had grabbed a winner when Will Sutton powered a header goalwards but Stanway saved well.

“We were the better team for everything apart from putting the ball in the net,” gaffer Mellon said after the game.

“You have to score goals to win games, but in terms of performance we were very, very good.

"We kept them under pressure in the second half.

"The only thing that was missing was the finishing touch.

“Coming off the back of a very difficult week after losing Tom (Conlon), the lads showed an awful lot of character to give a performance like that.”

Latics are next in action next Saturday when they make the short trip to Salford City.

---

Do you have a story for us? Want to tell us about something going on in and around Oldham? Let us know by emailing news@oldham-chronicle.co.uk , calling our Oldham-based newsroom on 0161 633 2121 , tweeting us @oldhamchronicle or messaging us through our Facebook page. All contact will be treated in confidence.