Barnsley 2 Oldham Athletic 2
To be fair, the aroma of victory had lingered in the frosty Yorkshire air as the Latics appeared to have defeated the White rose rivals however a wonderful strike denied the visitors at the death. The alarm bells are far from ringing,
despite searching for a needed win one thing is for sure, no league is ever won by December. Indeed, this draw against the Tykes signalled a much improved performance than those against Burton twice and Cheltenham. Although many
would have settled for a solitary point against the Yorkshiremen, this definitively measured up to be 2 points lost and thus any satisfaction for a point was quite diluted.
Nothing should detract from the effort the visitors put into this match. With the obvious set-backs in losing Murray and Low to injuries, coupled with David Eyres' suspension, the Latics already had a depleted squad to travel to Barnsley. Therefore add onto this a midweek match lasting 120 minutes, penalties and a long drive home from Burton-on-Trent just 3 days earlier, and avoiding defeat to prolong the only unbeaten away record in England looks quite an achievement.
To win at Oakwell would have been a superb feat, especially as the Tykes last home league match saw them oust out promotion rivals Cardiff, 3-2. However, the true story of this match was that an away win should have been the result and to be denied at the death was a cruel blow for a team which is putting in after-hours.
To patch up the squad, Dowie needed to alter the midfield by placing Armstrong on wide left and bringing Michael Clegg on the right. Both players did their best, however Armstrong did continuously drift back into the middle too often meaning our only real outlet on the wing came on the right. Clegg did particularly well whilst Baudet covered in Armstrong's previous position and did a sterling job. Darren Sheridan (who gained a good applause from the home
crowd who saw his talents displayed in their Premiership days) did what he does best by churning it out in the middle.
The only criticism that could be levelled was that in the second half the Latics defended a bit too deep at times and on the break, the centre-circle was often void of blue shirts. That left the front two alone to fight over the scraps. In defence, the Latics struggled to maintain Dyer and Sheron who were feisty throughout and often linked up well with each other. Hill stood tall and Berahall commanded, but Fitz Hall sometimes looked out of sorts. Hall appeared slightly off the pace and when in possession he seemed to lack the confidence with which every Latics fan has so far been amazed with.
All in all though, the Latics attacking prowess often proved too tough for Barnsley to handle and ex-Man City defender Flynn and partner Mulligan struggled to cope as the Latics swarmed through. Indeed, missed chances were
the order of the day, especially in the 2nd half as Armstrong and Corazzin had glorious opportunities and Clegg stuck another great chance wide.
For the Latics that was the tale of this battle. And a battle it was. Barnsley, who rarely had any decision given against them, continually hung off Latics players shoulders and by the end of 90 minutes, Wijnhard had been pulled about that
much it was a surprise that he had a shoulder left. The hosts even gained most 50/50's and add to this, a linesman who couldn't boil a kettle, let alone officiate a 2nd Division match and this really was a struggle at times.
Regarding the linesman, well, to say he was hopeless was an understatement - he was a moronic, petulant little git. His day ended with nearly 2,000 Latics fans baying for his blood and wanting to make a better use out of his flag than he
did. It was his diabolical decisions which thwarted any Latics attempts to attack, as with plenty of possession, the visitors could rarely break forward for fear of his flag being raised.
Several times, our man was being shoved into by the defender and thus our man couldn't have been offside, but everytime the flag went up. Maybe they changed the offside rule during half-time or something.
However, the officiating didn't detract anything from a game that was frantic from the word "go". And it was Barnsley that set the early standards with some neat possession. The first chance came Oldham's way as Berahall set off on a
weaving run through midfield and ended up almost latching onto a one-two in the box. The Tykes stopped his amazing burst with a last ditch tackle. Barnsley retaliated on 8 minutes as defender Mulligan had the same idea, this time he got a shot in only for it to flash narrowly wide. Seconds later, an error from Pogi offered Sheron the ball and he cut the ball back for Dyer. Fortunately the Aussie keeper had recovered well and managed to get back to his goalline to cover.
In a fast paced game, the Latics continued to make it end to end stuff on 13. Baudet latched onto a clearance and with one touch superbly fed Clegg down the right. Squaring the ball to meet Wijnhard's run into the box, Wiggy not only
steered the ball past Marriott in goal but the far post too.
For a brief 10 minute period the game began to settle down and the hosts began to see more of the ball. However, a break down the left ended with Armstrong and the linesman being pole-axed by a Barnsley defender. After several minutes of treatment for the linesman (in hindsight, chants of "let him die" were quite appropriate) the Latics prepared to take the free-kick.
John Eyre sent a sweet ball to the far post and bustling Baudet rose majestically to glance the ball inside the post. 1-0.
The lead lasted just a matter of seconds though as on 27 Barnsley were back on level terms. With too much space on the edge of the Latics defensive third, former City striker Mike Sheron latched onto a loose ball and thrashed it home
past Pogliacomi. 1-1.
As half-time approached several chances went begging. First Wiggy managed to connect with a slow-paced ball that Flynn had left for his keeper, but the Latics striker couldn't get enough on it to beat Marriott. Then as the Latics defence had allowed themselves to be drawn to Sheron, he found Jones through the middle to leave him with just Pogi to beat. The former Leicester midfielder shot agonisingly wide for the Tykes. Then Andrews nodded a corner against the post for the blues.
Just as the half couldn't get any livelier and to prove how end to end this game really was, the whole pitch came into play as the Latics almost took the lead again on 43. Down by the Latics goal line, Hill stood his ground against Betsy
but the referee amazingly awarded the hosts a free-kick. Betsy petulantly launched the ball at Hill to receive a booking.
As the Latics cleared the free-kick, play was sprayed out to Clegg who was hot-trotting down the right wing. He squared to Wijhnard who wound up for a shot but mis-cued. Fortunately though the ball spun straight to John Eyre who was totally unmarked on the edge of the box and his rasping drive was excellently fingertipped over by Marriott. That kept the sides level going into the interval.
Both sets of fans must have wondered if this game could continue at the same speed and on 49, Sheron looked to provide the answer. Outpacing Baudet to the ball, the striker looked set to slide it under Pogliacomi. In a desperate attempt to gather the ball, the former Parramata Powers keeper pulled off a superb steal from his toes as Sheron prepared to pull the trigger.
The Latics began to enjoy more possession now, but whenever Barnsley attacked the visitors often looked sluggish to get out of defence and support the attack. The ball continued to ping about but clear-cut chances were reduced for the time being.
However, a golden opportunity fell to Armstrong on 61. Darren Sheridan did all the work and drifted a gorgeous ball over the back line for the former Shaker to run onto whilst totally unmarked. It took a brilliant 1st touch to bring the ball down but once he had, his 2nd touch looked certain to be a goal. With a weird sense of irony, the man who just can't score for us slipped as he was about to net. The chance was gone.
Barnsley, in typical style of the game, responded minutes later as Morgan nodded for the top corner forcing Pogi into another decent save. With the front men of the Latics looking weary and unsupported, Dowie swapped Andrews for
Killen and it proved worthwhile. The front men appeared to catch a 2nd breath and on 78, Wijnhard should've scored when through but a defender did just enough to put him off his shot.
Finally, the Latics gained a deserved break-through for their possession and frustration. As everyone appeared to freeze and wait for the referee to blow for an infringement, Armstrong was first to the ball and he placed a perfect cross to the back post for Killen to nod home. 2-1.
It appeared to be a well fought win for the Latics and Clegg, who had shown much improvement in this display, should have made sure on 86 as he latched onto Killen's flick-on from a throw. Running onto the ball, Clegg shot from around the penalty spot and agonisingly sent the ball inches wide. How costly that would prove to be.
With 89 on the clock, Bruce Dyer managed to wriggle some space out of Hall to turn and whip a 25-yard curler in off the post. 2-2. Barnsley looked a relieved side, but there was almost a final twist to the tale. Sheridan, instrumental in everything, played Corazzin though and from 6 yards the Canadian just had Marriott to beat. The keeper threw himself at the ball as Carlo desperately stretched but his shot could only rebound off the Barnsley stopper to safety.
Such a golden chance was missed, but in his defence Corazzin had to be at full stretch to even get a shot in. It was a bitter pill to swallow at the end, but a point at Oakwell and an unbeaten away record cannot be scoffed at.
This was an encouraging, gutsy, well-fought display - something the Latics haven't shown for a few games. Playing well from front to back, the side put in a tireless effort after a previously tiring week. We all know what lengths Dowie has put the team through to get to such a fitness level and with cup-tie after cup-tie, maybe most would have fallen by the wayside now. The Latics keep going. Let's just hope the performances continue to be like that was at Oakwell. If so, be worried Palace - be very worried!!!