oldham 1 - chesterfield 1
Athletic fans were sent home disappointed on Saturday, after watching their side struggle against newly-promoted Chesterfield on a very impressive Boundary Park pitch.Andy Ritchie made just two changes to the team which forced a dramatic draw in the opening day show-piece at Wrexham. Those two changes were both predictable, as two of last weekend's substitutes Tony Carss and David Eyres came in for Paul Rickers (pictured) and Danny Boshell, who both dropped to the bench themselves. With Carlo Corazzin, Athletic's injury-time hero at the Racecourse, hit by injury, John Eyre came into the squad after recovering from an ankle knock. Mark Hotte lost his place all together, with Barry Prenderville starting among the substitutes, whilst Craig Dudley, who bagged a hat-trick for the reserves on Thursday night, was again ignored. Chesterfield, despite missing many important players through injury, including former Athletic midfielder Lee Richardson, started brightly. After just four minutes, Athletic supporters held their breath as experienced hit-man David Reeves, a striker Ritchie has long-admired, was put in the clear. Fortunately for Gary Kelly and his surprised defence, Reeves put the ball the wrong side of the post. To be honest, although Matthew Tipton looked lively on the ball in the early stages, Athletic were slow out of the starting blocks, with Chesterfield controlling the midfield. They hadn't come to Boundary Park to sit back and wait, but wanted to surprise Athletic by attacking the ball. It was certainly a surprise for the home side, and a brave move by manager Nick Laws, after his side's 6-3 hammering by Colchester last week. The visitors were holding possession, with one-time Athletic target Luke Beckett making his presence felt in attack. The first look of urgency from Athletic came with just over fifteen minutes gone, with right-back Scott McNiven getting forward. He won the ball with a determined challenge, before exploiting the gap left down the right. From a tight angle, McNiven went for goal with a powerful shot, and had it gone in, it would have been some goal, but Nathan Abbey was equal to it. Chesterfield responded in the best way possible, by taking the ball to Athletic. Reeves was unlucky to see his header go wide, in a move which resulted in physio Paul Caton needed on field to take a look at ShaunGarnett. Sporting a head band from his injury last week, Garnett's head wasn't the problem this time, with Caton examining his leg. Garnett was almost at fault for an opening goal, with Kelly being forced into a good stop. Kelly's tip over was followed by two Chesterfieldcorners, but neither came to anything. With that, Ritchie blew time on Garnett's afternoon, bringing Barry Prenderville into the fray on twenty-five minutes. The substitution was probably more to do with the manager not willing to risk his defender, but Garnett didn't agree with the change, kicking the unsuspecting advertising boards in anger. He was not a happy chappy. On the half-hour mark, Chesterfield were threatening again, as Carss uncharacteristically gave the ball away on the edge of the box. Beckett took control, but Carss was quick to realise his mistake, and produce a desperate saving tackle. Beckett was down, but Carss had timed his tackle to perfection.With only really one sight of goal, you wouldn't have bet money on Athletic taking the lead, but against the run of play, they did just that. Eyres' delivery was perfect for Mark Allott to climb and nod home for his second goal of the season, one which Athletic, by all accounts, did not deserve. The goal did seem to startle Athletic into action though, with the hosts dominating the rest of the half. Eyres, chasing the 100th league goal of his career, had a blast at goal after a threatening run through the Chesterfield defence, but Abbey just got a hand to it. Lee Duxbury and Eyres again had two more efforts at goal, before the referee blew for the interval. Chesterfield would have been very disappointed to have been behind after the start they had made, but credit where credit is due, they didn't let their heads drop, and came out battling. Robert Edwards was replaced with Greg Pearce by Law at half-time, with Chesterfield looking very determined to get back on track after a poor start to the season. Kelly was equal to Beckett's header from a free-kick,before Eyres saw his breakaway shot deflected for a corner. From that corner, John Sheridan (pictured) rolled the ball back for Eyres to have a pop. Unfortunately, Eyres was off target. Beckett again forced Kelly into action after a good cross from theright, before Law was becoming more and more frustrated, throwing Graham Hyde on in place of Keith Rowland. Hyde was in immediate action,blasting the ball over from distance. All the attacking play was coming from Chesterfield, but Athletic managed to break on the counter-attack, with McNiven again active down the right. Tipton headed wide from his cross, and shortly after, shot straight at Abbey. Despite his huge effort, it was not to be Tipton's day in front of goal, which will no doubt be good news for John Eyre. As Athletic were preparing to make a substitution with twenty minutes to go, Chesterfield finally made their pressure tell, with the equaliser. Roger Willis rose to plant his head on the ball from the corner. It was a goal they thoroughly deserved, but the Athletic bench was less thanimpressed with the marking by the defence. Ritchie then got his chance to make the change, with John Sheridan coming off for Paul Rickers, who went out wide to allow Duxbury to come more into the centre. The plan of the Duxbury/Carss duo leading theteam home to victory had gone badly wrong. There was no doubting Athletic wanted the win. They needed the win. Four points from two games would be classed as a successful start, but a draw against a mediocre side like Chesterfield would be a disaster. To tell the truth, Chesterfield were far from mediocre. Athletic earned two corners with fifteen minutes to go, but both werecleared. When the ball did come into the box though, Duxbury got his head it to divert it into the net. As the Chaddy End celebrated the "winning" goal, the linesman had other ideas, having held his flag aloft for the previous offside. Athletic were still only on level terms. It could have been worse though, with Pearce directing his header across the Athletic goal, to send shivers down the spines of every Athletic supporter. As much as Athletic wanted to win it, they had to be careful,they could have easily lost it. Just over ten minutes to go, enter John Eyre. Tipton, who was again up for the fight, but not on target, was withdrawn. No one can question the commitment of Tipton, but unless he finds the net soon, he will struggle to hold onto his place, especially when Corazzin returns. Time passed on, with Eyres more determined than ever to win the game. He tried a long-range drive which went over, before delivering a cross from the left for Carss. The ball was just in-front of Carss, who could only prod it towards goal, although it was off target. Even if it had have been on target, Abbey probably would have got there. Desperation kicked in with Allott trying to ambitiously win a penalty with six minutes of normal time remaining. Allott felt he had been shoved in the back, but it would have been harsh on Chesterfield, had the penalty been given. Anyway, with Corazzin, Sheridan senior and Tipton all off the field, who would have been brave enough to take it? Five minutes left, and Jamie Ingledow tested Kelly for the final time in the match. Although there was nothing the goalkeeper could have done about the goal, Kelly had saved his team when it mattered, meaning he was one of Athletic's best players on the day. How many times have we heard that one? Having scored a free-kick for the reserves on Thursday, Prenderville was filled with optimism when approaching a set-piece in the last minute. Any hopes of it being the winner though were severely dashed,as Prenderville (pictured) came closer to the corner flag that the onion bag. The look on Eyres' face said it all.
Time ran out for Athletic in the end, but Chesterfield were more thanworthy of their point. They had come to Boundary Park to do a job, and they can feel satisfied, having done it. The same cannot be said for Athletic. Looking at the fixture list, Athletic have a lot of tougher opponents to face this season, with Ritchie admitting to be anywhere near the play-offs, you must win your home games, and draw away. It'sonly the early stages, but are Athletic capable of doing that?
Athletic ratings: Kelly 8, McNiven 8, D Sheridan 6, Garnett 6 (Prenderville 7), Balmer 7, Duxbury 6, Eyres 7, Carss 7, J Sheridan 6 (Rickers 6), Tipton (Eyre 6), Allott 7.
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i would like to thank martin barlow for this mathc report also be shore to visit: -
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