Instead, Oldham's inability to defeat Port Vale at Vale Park again brought an end to the party (Latics have only departed Vale Park with victory once in their last eleven visits). It should also serve as a stark reminder to Brian Talbot that his side are not out of a relegation battle yet. The defeat means that 17th place Athletic are only seven points off the relegation zone.
In the game itself Oldham were under the cosh right from the start - the statistic of five Port Vale corners to no Oldham corners proves that - but despite that Latics went ahead in the 34th minute. Scott Vernon managed to find the net from two yards for his third Oldham goal of the season. This at least means Scott has scored as many goals for Athletic this season as he did in his four game spell at Blackpool this campaign.
Port Vale then scored - three times - to end Oldham's special run. The last a penalty curtesy of Adam Griffin, who brought down Lee Matthews in the box.
Jermaine Johnson came on in the 73rd minute for Lee Croft - a welcome return, seeing as the striker has been injured for the past 6 weeks. However, Johnson made an unwelcome exit nine minutes later. Mark Bonnor was the substitute that came on in place of Johnson, and as he has been on the injury list as well, this was another welcome return! Thankfully Bonnor managed his eight minutes on the field unscathed.