dropping more valuable promotion points against a capable, excellently organised Oldham team whose never-say-die attitude and fight matched City's better quality to prove exactly why that are still unbeaten away all season in the Nationwide League.
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It was a massive game for City whose promotion drive has faltered badly in recent times. An owner who has funded the club like no other has been at this level, the best paid quality squad and a manager on record telling fans that he would be personally disappointed if he failed to deliver the Championship. With three successive away defeats, just two wins in six home games, a succession of highly unimpressive performances and a string of questionable selections and tactics, confidence has been badly rocked.
Lennie Lawrence, many will argue, has taken too long to deal with problems that many of us could see all season but after losing to the bottom of the table Huddersfield with a terrible display causing furious criticism, even he knew that he had to act.
Out went five players. Neil Alexander kept his place in goal despite suffering a visible confidence crisis knowing when to leave his line. Unfortunately for him, Martyn Margetson, hardly excelled doing likewise in midweek FAW Premier Cup action at TNS.
Defence was Weston (back in black boots!), Young, Barker and Croft. (Frank) Spencer Prior, a player having a terrible season and who has been directly or indirectly responsible for City conceding the goals that we paid £700,000 for him to prevent, was on the sub's bench, a long overdue "rest".
Midfield was bold with Jason Bowen back on the right, on-loan Alan Mahon on the left with Kav and Willie Boland charged with having to work their socks off in the centre. Out went Fan Zhiyi, now rumoured to be about to leave the club where he has had an unhappy spell, Andy Legg (remember Lennie saying how Leggy shouldn't fear for his place with Mahon arriving??) and Mark Bonner.
Many fans will feel sorry for Legg but whilst we all love him, his commitment, work-rate and back-tracking are second-to-none, he hasn't got in enough quality crosses and doesn't beat his man enough which has been a key City problem. Alan Mahon showed exactly what we have been missing in the same role.
Mark Bonner was known to be very upset to be dropped after being City's best performer (not that he had much competition) at Huddersfield and being the only player single out for praise by Lennie, he couldn't have done anymore. However once Lennie decided on two natural wide men, Lennie's central choices were always going to be Willie and Kav. Bonns surely knows he is not in favour with Lennie, ignored all season (after injury) and dropped at the first opportunity.
We could split hairs over one or two selections but nobody could surely dispute the system devised to gave problems to Oldham and full of intent. In front of Sky tv cameras, an expectant crowd and quality opponents, we looked polished, technical and gave an excellent account for the first hour. City took a while to adjust and rode their luck a little, Scott Young still doesn't look quite right and gifted the ball to Oldham a couple of times before they started turning it on, the prominent figure was Alan Mahon.
Can anyone remember the last time we had someone wide who not only challenged, but beat, defenders, whipped across quality crosses which came at the right height, angle and direction which teasingly curled away from goal at close range, the perfect ball to attack. Peter Thorne and the Ninian crowd were in such shock to see this service, they wondered what it was!
Oldham's five man defence snuffed out much of it, Thorne has to get into the habit of making runs for them. Mahon's left foot is sublime, the way he beat Oldham's defenders was thrilling, he was nudged in the area a couple of times but always looked to cross, he could just have easily gone down and won a penalty. Although it's easy to get carried away, it promises more once Mahon hits full match fitness.
For all the danger and threat, City were struggling to break through. Oldham had a competent defence well marshall by Fitz Hall who had similar looks, build and style to the much missed Danny Gabbidon, the opening goal on 36 minutes was a relief.
With Croft, Barker and Mahon all linking up superbly on the left, Mahon was getting plenty of service. As he received the ball advanced, he hit a fantastic switch ball across the field to Jason Bowen who was hardly in the game. Oldham's defence cracked at last as BOWEN was allowed time and space to take on a defender and get room to shoot, his low 20 yard drive appeared to go through stand-in keeper Miskelly whose name should have been Mistheball as tv later showed that he let it go under his dive.
The crowd, not as noisy as usual other than the Grange End, were lifted. The players looked happy and Oldham were hanging on.
Half-time: CITY 1 OLDHAM 0
The much hyped newly built jumboscreen between the corner of the Bob Bank and Grange End seemed to mirror the missing quality of recent Cardiff performances - loads of promise but no vision! It wasn't working, apparently it had broken parts that Cardiff now need to order from Hungary. Cue the Cardiff City joke of the week - I don't know if the salesman at The Reebok was called DelBoy but we really should have known better than to buy a second-hand telly from The Trotters! (Bolton's nickname). Beat that for a pun Mike Morris!
The other half-time fun was trying to work out the official programme's claim that Oldham's injured forward Clive Wijnhard scored "all four in the mid-September 6-1 win over Mansfield"! Maths has changed since I was at school.
Cardiff were out for the kill, Oldham looked ready to crack but City didn't take their chances and The Latics, all credit to them, hung in there.
Earnie started proceedings by superbly latching onto a backpass, skipping around the advancing Miskelly, his goalbound shot was superbly stopped on the line by that man Fitz Hall. Miskelly, atoned for his first half howler, with superb reflex saves from Thorne meeting another brilliant mahon cross and, even better, to deny Earnie's turn and rising corner of the net shot. Kav and Earnie were denied, Earnie got in the way after a goalbound Mahon drive with the ball deflecting narrowly wide. Had one gone in, it would have been game over I'm convinced, City have to get more ruthless.
Having rode the storm, Oldham showed what they're about. Lead by an excellent young manager, Ian Dowie, who kicked every ball, shouted, cajoled and showed his passion and desire, he made changes to alter the pattern of the game and City failed to respond.
Therein, could lie a problem. City always take the view their extra quality will see them through, they always seem unable to alter a game when things are going against them, we seem to have too many nice guys who never make their passion and belief shine though in a battle and a quiet manager who acts like a professor with his arms folded and very little comment or action/re-action.
Dowie had kicked the ground in front of his dug-out so much that a 5 yard area was visibily scuffed, Ninian's groundsmen probably spent most of Saturday filling in a 4 foot hole that he had created!
The initial warning came when their man mountain Ben Burgess (remember how he unsettled us for Brentford this time last season?) was very unlucky as he met a superb right wing cross and saw his header thud off the bar. His brawn and work-rate was troubling Young, Wayne Andrews drive and skill was worrying too.
Defence were under increasing pressure and creaking, Kav although criticised for dropping deep superbly came to City's rescue twice as he cleared headers with forwards ready to head home. It was Oldham's drive and play as much as City tiring that was the reason why City dropped back and it was surely time for a change.
Cardiff needed defensive help or a boost in midfield to deal with the waves of attacks, play now almost exclusively in City's half. Mahon was tiring, Bowen hardly involved at all. City were winning, and with Earnie, always capable of causing trouble. It seemed common sense to remove one or both in favour of a Prior and Bonner to close the game but we didn't. How Lennie must regret it?
When he finally changed things, with just 6 minutes remaining, it looked a classic error and it turned out that way. Mahon was off with Lennie saying he was tired and carrying a slight knock but that was apparent long before. Inexplicably, to me anyway, he also removed Earnie, the outlet who could run, keep defenders back.
Both went to huge, long ovations, larging it, the tannoy blaring out more praise. All of it far too premature. You would have thought we had learned from the Stoke play-off defeat but obviously not.
By comparison, Peter Thorne was knackered, his socks around his ankles and appeared to be looking to come off. Lennie compounded things by throwing on Legg and Gordon in like-for-like positions. I don't want to criticise things or look smart after the event but myself and everyone near me were saying it long before the changes and again when they happened. It was not just a bad call, it was a wrong call.
Three minutes later, Oldham broke from a throw in their own half, Burgess turned Young, his shot saved by Alexander but EYRE, 38 years old, was first to react and turned the rebound home from an angle on the right. We went to sleep yet again.
Four minutes of added time were displayed and, for City, it was a case of hanging on. No Earnie meant no outlet and City actually had all eleven defending for corners which meant the ball coming back.
It was a hugely disappointing outcome but credit to Oldham. I wish City showed as much passion as they did, their whole bench went berserk when they scored and at final whistle in a way you never see from our club. If we could add what they have to what we have, we would be Champions already.
The draw was disappointing but not a disaster, losing to Huddersfield last week was the disaster and is what has raised the pressure. On a strange weekend, everyone in the Top 5 drew so no ground was lost but City wasted 2 points and a supreme opportunity to pull away from Oldham and closer to Crewe. We had it in our grasp, we wasted it.
On the positive side, if City perform like that (I still think we need a big, shouting defender, our deficiency - even without Prior - was still very apparent) and a midfield/attacking boost, we are going to collect the wins and points that we have stopped achieving in recent weeks.
City have two games against bottom 6 teams this week, it's time for result, not criticising what went wrong. If Lennie and his team do that, he won't need to comment about supporters and the media. It in up to him, and his players, to prove what they're about and show they can produce where it matters - on the pitch.
Report from FootyMad
A last-gasp David Eyres goal rescued a point for Oldham and maintained their unbeaten away record as the Latics hit back to draw 1-1 with promotion rivals Cardiff City at Ninian Park.
Eyres swept the ball home from close range with three minutes left after Neil Alexander had parried Ben Burgess' shot.
The Bluebirds started the game well and Alan Mahon saw an early effort blocked while at the other end Fitz Hall's header was well saved by Neil Alexander.
Cardiff finally took the lead in the 35th minute. Jason Bowen linked up well with on-loan midfielder Alan Mahon before smashing a shot past David Miskelly.
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After the break Oldham began to press and were unlucky not to draw level when Burgess headed Wayne Andrews' cross onto the bar in the 55th minute.
Miskelly was then forced to push a fierce Earnshaw drive away before tipping a Thorne effort over the bar.
Earnshaw then rounded the Latics keeper but his goal-bound shot was headed clear by the covering Hall.
Oldham finished strongly with Eyres firing just wide and Wayne Andrews having a goalbound effort blocked, before Eyres' last-gasp equaliser.
The Latics have now gone 15 away games unbeaten and stay third while Cardiff are one point and one place below them.
External reports
BBC Wales
South Wales Echo
Manchester Evening News