Frozen farce

Derby should never have been played — Latics frontman
ATHLETIC striker Chris Taylor believes that the freezing-cold derby with Rochdale should not have been played.

Referee Tony Bates gave the green light for the game, which finished as a 1-1 draw, to go ahead following a 10am inspection.

But a large section in front of the main stand appeared to be extremely firm as a result of subzero temperatures in the lead-up to the rearranged npower League One fixture, which was originally called off by the same match official after only eight minutes due to a waterlogged pitch at the start of the month.

And striker Taylor — Athletic’s outstanding performer on a chilly day — said that part of the pitch was unplayable, comparing it to a ‘car park’.

“It was shocking,” said Taylor, Athletic’s joint-top scorer on five goals so far this season.

“The section in front of where the Oldham fans were situated was fine.

“But when you got across to the other side, where the benches are, it was shocking. It should never have been played.

“It was just like playing on a car park. Around 70-per-cent of the pitch was fine but the other 30-per-cent on the main stand side was terrible.”

As for the action itself, Taylor was pleased to come away with a point in a proverbial game of two halves.

Athletic dominated the early stages and were a goal to the good thanks to Cedric Evina’s excellent strike from distance.

But once substitute Matt Done had equalised for the home team, it became a struggle for Athletic and goalkeeper Dean Brill had to produce a pair of fine second-half saves to keep the score at 1-1.

“I think a point was fair,” Taylor added. “In the first half we dominated up until they got the goal, which gave them a big lift.

“Second half, they put us under a lot of pressure with a lot of long balls.

“They got it up to big Chris O’Grady who did well.

“So overall, with us having the first half and them the second, it was the right result.

“Every point is valuable for us and we take the plusses. We played really well before they got a goal when we switched off.

“A point takes us into the play-offs and that is where we want to be.

“We are only three points off second place, so we are still in a good position and we will crack on.”

Ritchie Jones was a late pull-out for Athletic with a tight hamstring and new loan signing Neal Trotman didn’t feature from the substitutes’ bench.

Athletic travel to bottom-of-the-table Walsall, who crashed out of the FA Cup in the second round at Torquay, on Saturday.



ATHLETIC’S scheduled match against Manchester United in the Lancashire Senior Cup tonight (7pm kick-off) is in severe doubt as a result of the weather.


SOUTHAMPTON made it into the third round of the FA Cup this weekend and as a result, Athletic’s scheduled fixture against the Saints at Boundary Park — which was to be on the third round weekend of Saturday, January 8 — will have to be rearranged.