8,564 thanks and one big SORRY!

BLUE ARMY . . . the capacity Rochdale Road End

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£2 match a hit, but team gets the jitters

LATICS chairman Simon Corney issued 8,546 thank-yous last night — and one massive apology.

The thanks were to the Latics faithful who had responded magnificently to the call to Boundary Park for a show of strength to what was dubbed “the £2 match” after local businesses had underwritten the gate receipts.

But the big apology was for the desperately poor performance given by Paul Dickov’s men as they suffered a bout of stage fright and lost 1-0 on the night to Carlisle United.

“The supporters have been fantastic to show up in such numbers and we could not have been happier with the attendance — we did not think for one minute that that many would turn out on a cold and wet Tuesday night,” said Corney post-match in the Latics boardroom.

But he could not hide his disappointment that his team had failed to serve up more of the exciting brand of football that has become their trademark under Dickov to show the stayaways what they have been missing.

“We have shot ourselves in the foot again, haven’t we — and it is not the first time over the years that we have managed to attract a larger attendance and failed to deliver.”

Corney even hinted that those thousands of extra at the turnstile — they were still queuing at the turnstiles to get in after the match had started — might be offered another cut-price match later in the season.

“After that performance, maybe we owe them one.”

Chief Executive Alan Hardy revealed that the game had yielded over £13,500 in gate receipts and that money added to the sponsorship money pumped in by the local businesses after the original idea came from Latics fan Martin Thomas, of Vehicle Consulting, had proved a big success.

Thomas had rallied support from several other local firms after less than 3,000 home fans witnessed a superb display in beating Hartlepool two weeks ago.

“We are all disappointed in the performance of the players but I just hope that some of those who have come along will not judge us on one game and will come back again to cheer the team on towards the play-offs.

“Other play-off challengers Charlton Athletic and MK Dons have also lost tonight — which is a good thing but also shows what a missed opportunity this has been.”