Welcome
to today's issue of
BOUNDARY
BULLET-zine
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Oldham Athletic Supporters
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Today's
Edition for
20th April 2000
Welcome to new subscribers
in Littleborough, Perth & Adelaide (Australia), Mariehamn (Finland)
and the United States.
Today's
Headlines
Reserves
draw with Baggies
First
preview of Bluebirds game
Oldham
Evening Chronicle
Garnett
set to win Latics call
ATHLETIC’S
brittle defence could be reinforced by the return of Richard Graham and
Shaun Garnett for Saturday’s home game against Cardiff City. Graham,
who has had a hamstring injury, plays for the reserves tonight, while Garnett
was due back in training following a knee injury. Garnett, who was hurt
at Bournemouth a week last Saturday, has the more realistic chance of making
the starting line-up. Manager Andy Ritchie
believes Garnett was sorely missed on Tuesday when Athletic lost at home
to bottom club Chesterfield. “That game
showed how much we missed some of the experienced players, especially Shaun
who has been a rock at the back,” he explained. None
of Athletic’s other long-term absentees will feature. They are John Sheridan,
Paul Rickers, Neil Adams, Mark Allott and Craig Dudley. It is a big night
for the reserves, who play at Scunthorpe in the semi-final of the Pontins
League Cup. The Athletic team will included trialist Simon Glover who played
for an hour in last night’s reserve-team match against West Brom.
The
left-sided Glover, who has had spells with QPR, Nottingham Forest and Fulham,
showed some neat touches. A second trialist
Michael Harris, who is being released by Newcastle, did not do so well
and he doesn’t feature tonight. The
Athletic team again includes 16-year-old central defender Will Haining
who played last night against West Brom. Reserves (from): Robertson, Haining,
Futcher, Graham, Smith, Glover, Boshell, Wharton, Walsh, Sugden, Tipton,
Froggatt, Whittle, Roberts, Gardiner, McLaughlin.
Wharton’s
late strike earns point for reserves
A
TEAM of Athletic rookies earned a late point at Boundary Park last night
in the Pontins League premier division. The
most senior players on show were Ian McLean and Danny Walsh, but the youngsters
kept battling and did enough to warrant a draw. Ben
Futcher and Gareth Gardiner did well for Athletic, whose two wing-backs
were both trialists. Newcastle’s Michael
Harrison was disappointing on the right, but Simon Glover -who has had
spells at Nottingham Forrest and Fulham -looked promising going forward
on the other flank. West Brom opened
the scoring after 14 minutes following a dreadful error by Athletic goalkeeper
Ben Robertson. His attempted pass to
a team-mate went straight to winger Mark Angel, who chipped over him adroitly
from a tight angle.
Athletic
couldn’t trouble the visiting defence, but there was a sign of their progress
before the break when Walsh fired just wide at the end of a flowing move. Max
Iezzi missed two good chances for Albion, while Gardiner shot the wrong
side of a post from Jon Froggatt’s cross. Openings
remained rare in a dour midfield battle until Athletic opened up in the
closing stages. All three substitutes
might have scored before Nathan Wharton met a Ben Smith cross to head in
the equaliser after 83 minutes.
Athletic:
Robertson, Futcher, Haining, McLean, Harris, Glover (Smith 63), Wharton,
Walsh (Roberts 45), McLaughlin, Froggatt, Gardiner (Oliver 76). Subs not
used: Whittle, Rock.
Teamtalk
Oldham
Injury
problems mount
Defender
Scott McNiven and midfielder Mark Innes are the latest Oldham players receiving
treatment ahead of Saturday's clash with Cardiff. McNiven has a groin injury
and Innes a hip problem and both are said to be major doubts. There was
more encouraging news for defensive strongman Shaun Garnett who has missed
a couple of games with a knee injury. He returned to training yesterday
and is now in with a good chance of facing Cardiff.
Young
reserves draw
Oldham's
youngest-ever reserve team held West Brom's second string to a creditable
1-1 draw at Boundary Park last night. The Latics' injury crisis meant that
nine of the players on view were teenagers and the other two were 21-year-olds.
West Brom took a deserved lead in the 15th minute courtesy of a superb
Mark Angel chip shot as the Latics missed several chances to level the
score before half time. Athletic came out after the break in a much more
determined frame of mind but had to wait until the 85th minute before Nathan
Wharton headed in Ben Smith's cross from close range. Ben Futcher, who
had turned down a loan move to Leigh RMI on deadline day, again showed
his class at this level with another outstanding performance at the centre
of defence.
Second
string back in action
A much
stronger Oldham reserve side will take on Scunthorpe in the semi final
of the Pontins League Cup at Glanford Park tonight. Richard Graham, who
has been sidelined with a hamstring injury for five games, is back in the
line-up. The defender is due to play half a game in a bid to prove his
fitness for Saturday's game with Cardiff. Trialist Simon Glover is also
set for his second run out in 24 hours. The 18-year-old left wing back
has had spells with Fulham, Nottingham Forest and more recently QPR and
has caught the eye of boss Andy Ritchie: "He did very well against West
Brom on Wednesday night, particularly when going forward, but to be fair
to the lad he had been on a train most of the day and was pretty tired."
Several players with first team experience - Matthew Tipton, Ryan Sugden,
Danny Walsh, Danny Boshell and Ben Futcher have also been called up.
Cardiff
up next
Oldham's
next game takes place on Saturday against Cardiff City at Boundary Park
in what is the penultimate home game of the season.
The South Wales
club are currently third from bottom and will be desperate for all three
points in what has become a tight relegation struggle.
Blackpool lie
two points below them and Scunthorpe one point above them, but Cardiff
have a game in hand over both clubs.
The Latics will
be looking for a win to consolidate their top half position and, depending
on results elsewhere, could be as high as ninth by the end of the weekend. Teamtalk
CARDIFF
Injury
problems mount
The Bluebirds'
injury problems have worsened ahead of their vital clash with Oldham at
the weekend. Boss Billy Ayre appears to have serious problems in defence
with Mike Ford the latest player struggling to be fit after suffering a
Pelvic injury. Russell Perrett and Jeff Eckhardt are also facing a race
against time to recover from hamstring and knee injuries respectively.
Scott Young is now the only centre half who is fully fit, which poses serious
problems for Billy Ayre.
Jorn Scwinkendorf,
who could be the ideal replacement to slot in at the heart of the defence
is suffering from a groin strain. To add to the Bluebirds' misery Andrew
Legg, Kurt Nogan, Jason Fowler and Mark Bonner are all still receiving
treatment ahead of the clash at Boundary Park. However, Oldham themselves
have a long injury list and they had twelve players under 21 in the squad
for Tuesday's defeat at home to bottom club Chesterfield.
ESPN
Soccernet Oldham
boss Andy Ritchie is keeping his team selection under wraps as he prepares
for the clash with Cardiff at Boundary Park. After a disappointing 2-1
defeat at home to bottom club Chesterfield in midweek, Ritchie is picking
from the same squad but has not ruled out last-minute team changes. He
said: "We were abysmal against Chesterfield and we'll be looking for a
lot better performance against Cardiff. "But we showed against Wigan what
we're capable of and I'm looking for that kind of commitment from the lads."
Relegation-threatened Cardiff City could be without two key defenders for
the crucial trip to Boundary Park. Russell Perrett collected a knee injury
in last Saturday's humiliating 4-0 home reverse to Cambridge United, ruling
him out of the Latics encounter. Jeff Eckhardt is also a serious doubt
after feeling tightness in his hamstring. Manager Billy Ayre said: "Oldham
gave us a difficult match down here. Andy Ritchie has done a good job at
Oldham and there are no easy games."
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