Micky Mellon half-joked that, given the circumstances, it might not be a terrible idea for Oldham Athletic to board the team bus for a few hours prior to their next home game.
Even though Latics are the National League’s second-best away team, trailing only unbeaten leaders Chesterfield, their home performance has been dismal, especially this past Saturday.
It was meant to be a memorable occasion. However, after 90 minutes of football, it was forgotten.
The largest attendance at Boundary Park in nearly twenty years was witnessed as a large number of new, returning, and devoted fans turned out to welcome the natural force that is Frank Rothwell back for his first home game since he became the oldest person to row the Atlantic, or any other ocean, ever.
Hopefully, a portion of the 11,800+ spectators, whether new or returning, showed enough interest to follow Tuesday night’s game at Eastleigh and are still passionate about Latics.
They maintain interest, if nothing else.
According to Forrest Gump, life is like a box of chocolates. Given that you never know what to expect from one game to the next and no one likes the coffee one, Oldham Athletic must be a bag of surprises. However, similar to the coffee, Saturday’s home loss to Kidderminster Harriers left a bad taste for several reasons, not the least of which being that it took the shine off Rothwell’s much anticipated return home.
While most fans could tolerate their team performing well and losing, it was difficult to ignore Phil Brown’s battling Harriers.
At Eastleigh, where about 300 fans sang their hearts out, Latics looked like a very different proposition, and manager Micky Mellon was thankful for the chance to get it out of their system swiftly.
Despite their dominance in the first half, they managed to only muster one goal before halftime through Joe Garner.
Before Garner broke the tie in minute 26, the first two had come close.
Mike Fondop, the strike partner, headed down a free kick, and Oli Hammond narrowly missed a header in front of goal, but Eastleigh could not handle the threat. Nathan Sheron nodded the ball back into play, and Garner controlled it with his back to goal, spun and slotted past Joe McDonnell, the custodian.
The attacking intent persisted, but Latics couldn’t increase the score until the 70th minute, which was 25 minutes after Nigel Atangana of Eastleigh was sent out for a second bookable offence.
After Luke Hogan and Harrison McGahey worked together well to get the ball into the box for Garner to bury, it was Garner once more.
Sadly, Enzio Boldewijn’s goal in the 85th minute gave Eastleigh a lifeline.
For a nerve-jangling finish, the replacement held off Mark Kitching, created a yard of space for himself, and twisted a superb left foot shot around Mat Hudson’s dive. However, Latics managed to secure a much-needed victory before their weekend trip back to Boundary Park. The first of two back-to-back home games comes against Southend, with the second-place Bromley next up in midweek.
As per Mellon, who seemed equally perplexed by the home team’s unluck as the rest of us, “I think what we’ve got to do now is stay overnight when we play at home – maybe go two or three hours away from the ground and commute in in the morning of the game or something, I don’t know,”
with more games at home
