When the going gets tough . . .

The View From Row Z

ANYONE got a mop and bucket and a few hours to spare?

All those tears shed by Manchester City in the aftermath of their defeat at the weekend will surely take an army of volunteers to clean up.

One of the main areas for those ‘Caution: Wet Floor’ signs to be put up is around the dug-out, where Mark Hughes couldn’t contain his fury after Manchester United were allowed more than six minutes of injury time to find a late winner.

Which they eventually did, thanks to Michael Owen — oh, and some of the worst defending under pressure you are ever likely to see at the top level.

While United boss Sir Alex Ferguson danced a jig down the touchline in celebration of the 4-3 win at Old Trafford — like Shergar does an impression of John Inman — Hughes was soon busy analysing the footage with the aid of a stopwatch, trying to work out how referee Martin Atkinson had managed to tag an extra couple of minutes or so on to the four additional indicated at the end of the game.

City may or may not have a case that they were hard done by. Such things happen at Old Trafford, as Hughes knows himself having been a member of the side that famously claimed a Steve Bruce winner seven minutes after the original 90 against Sheffield Wednesday in 1993.

That isn’t what the City boss should be concentrating on today, though.

If the newly-rich Eastlands club aspires to be among the elite in Europe then they cannot ever afford to switch off like they did against their big-city rivals.

Going into standby mode at the start and finish of games against the top teams isn’t a path to any sort of sustained success.

Tiredness plays a part in lax decision-making in sport, but Carlos Tevez and Shaun Wright-Phillips virtually provided assists for Michael Owen at the death. City must get mentally tougher, quickly.


IT is always a joy to see any team raise its game when it really matters and that is exactly what the Roughyeds did on Sunday.

The 54-30 battering of Hunslet — a side Oldham’s own coach Tony Benson described before the match as favourites — now takes the team to within one more win of a third successive play-off final.

Many coaches in various sports talk about being down to ‘the bare bones’. But few could have meant it so literally as Benson, who was forced to put out the only patched-up side he could due to lack of numbers following recent transfers out of the club.

How the team responded. Such a shame that only 801 fans turned up to see it - an insult given the level of effort and determination on show.

mattchambers@oldham-chronicle.co.uk