22nd December 2000  

Bee's preview's

ANDY RITCHIE is backing striker Mark Allott to deliver a Christmas win double to Athletic. Allott, who has hit only three goals in a stop-start season, will be back in the firing line for tomorrow’s trip to Brentford and the big Boxing Day clash with Wigan. The 22-year-old - top scorer for the last two years - has been dropped three times this season as Craig Dudley has established himself up front. Now, with Dudley out injured for around a month, Allott is to be reunited with Canadian Carlo Corazzin. Ritchie revealed: “Mark will go straight into the side and it’s a good chance for him to keep that place. 

“He has been okay about being left out because he accepted he wasn’t playing as well as he could. Craig Dudley came in and did really well, so Mark knew he had to prove himself to work his way back in. “Not having many reserve games has been a pain, but I have confidence in him and his attitude has been great.” Allott’s last goal came at Bristol Rovers, where Athletic launched a run of five away games without defeat. They have a tough task to extend it at Griffin Park, where Brentford have lost only twice in the league all season. Ritchie is still without skipper Lee Duxbury, who, like Dudley, has a hamstring strain. Rookie striker Ryan Sugden is included for only the second time all season, with the manager explaining: “He has been doing really well in the reserves and in training.” 

ATHLETIC (probable): Kelly, Rickers, Garnett, McNiven, Innes, Boshell, Sheridan, Carss, Eyres, Corazzin, Allott. Subs (from): Holt, Hotte, Salt, Sugden, Tipton, Miskelly. 

BRENTFORD (from): Gottskalksson, Lovett, Gibbs, Mahon, Marshall, Ingimarsson, Evans, Quinn, Rowlands, Scott, Partridge, Smith, Owusu, Williams, O’Connor, Theobald, Dobson. 

ATHLETIC hope to acquire some capital gains tomorrow when they visit West London to tackle in-form Brentford. The Bees have been buzzing recently, earning a dramatic draw against Wigan and a tremendous win over another of division two’s high-rollers, Bristol City. But Athletic, despite going off the boil, can also point to a sequence of results which gives tomorrow’s match a wide-open look. If the visitors win or draw, they will equal their best run for over four years by making it six away games without defeat. From late October 1996 to the beginning of 1997, Graeme Sharp’s team were unbeaten on their travels to Grimsby, Bradford, Tranmere, Southend, Wolves and Sheffield United. The men playing in those games — of whom the survivors are Paul Rickers, Shaun Garnett, Gary Kelly and Scott McNiven — managed to lift Athletic from the foot of the first division to the fringe of the drop zone. Yet, with Sharp leaving just six weeks after the run ended in an FA Cup tie at Barnsley, the club was still demoted at the end of the season. As Athletic have again risen from the relegation mire, they must treat that as a cautionary tale and ensure there is no repeat of the slip back into danger.

This time, the sides unable to beat Athletic have been Bristol Rovers (who lost 2-0), Stoke (1-0), Hednesford Town (4-2), Peterborough (1-1) and Bury (1-1). Brentford will move heaven and earth to avoid being victim number six — and they will be doing it with a new manager. Ray Lewington is the man in overall control at Griffin Park after being promoted from his position as head coach. The move came when Ron Noades, the club chairman who also served as manager for over two seasons, decided to resign from the playing side. Noades surprised many in the game when — admittedly with Lewington and two other experienced coaches behind him — he began his managerial reign with the third-division title. Brentford consolidated last season, ending in 17th place. But inconsistency blighted their start to the new campaign and Noades, who was missing matches whenever he visited his son at a Spanish boarding school, stepped down last month. The final straw was a 3-1 home defeat to Kingstonian in the FA Cup first round, after which Noades was angry enough to take firm action. Without so much as a vote of confidence in himself, he announced that he would be concentrating on his role in the boardroom.

Form has improved since then, with Lewington promoting a more attractive brand of football than his predecessor. He is also doing it despite injuries to key men, including the former Athletic loan player Danny Boxall. Brentford’s star turn is Andy Scott, whose scoring record was modest when he was used wide on the left. Then, in an injury crisis, Scott played at centre-forward — and with startling results. The 28-year-old has already hit 12 goals and, during his learning process, developed the useful knack of scoring equalisers and winners in the last ten minutes. Late goals have already cost Athletic six points and a cup tie this season so, if Christmas is to remain merry for all concerned, they need to kick the habit immediately. 

Official Oldham Athletic Site

Carlo Corazzin has reported for training this morning following his bout of sickness yesterday. Andy Ritchie however is taking no chances and has included both Matthew Tipton and Ryan Sugden in a 17-man squad that will travel South today.

It is likely that Mark Allott will partner Corazzin up front in place of the injured Craig Dudley with Tipton taking Allot's place on the substitutes bench. If Corazzin has no further reaction to his injury it is likely that Sugden will be the player who does not make the bench.

The full squad is:

Kelly - Rickers - Innes - Garnett - McNiven - Boshell -- Carss - Sheridan - Corazzin - Eyres - Miskelly - Holt - Allott - Hotte - Saalt - Tipton - Sugden

Skipper Lee Duxbury has still not recovered sufficiently from his ham string strain but Ritchie is hoping to have him available over the Christmas period.

Teamtalk Oldham

The Latics will again be without skipper Lee Duxbury for tomorrow's clash with Brentford, after failing a fitness test on his hamstring injury. He remains on the casualty list along with striker Craig Dudley, defenders Barry Prenderville and Paul Jones plus veteran midfielder Neil Adams. The only change from the side which was knocked out of the FA Cup by Peterborough last Tuesday will be up front with Mark Allott replacing Dudley. Wales under-21 striker Matthew Tipton has been called up to the subs bench and joins Holt, Hotte, Salt and Miskelly. Andy Ritchie is hoping the Latics improved away form will help extend a run of just two defeats in nine league games at Griffin Park. He explained: "We have been playing better away from home and it doesn't faze the lads any more. We have only lost two in 11, so it is not a worry." He added: "But I am not saying it will be easy, far from it. Brentford are a work-man-like side and they are always difficult to beat, especially at their place." Ritchie reckons top 10-goal scorer Andrew Scott will be the dangerman and he has told his defenders to "wrap him up." Brentford are in 14th place, but if the Latics can take maximum points it will put them on the same number as the Bees.

Andy Ritchie has sprang to the defence of Carlo Corazzin, after the Canadian international's disappointing form in recent weeks
There has been recent criticism of Corazzin, although he remains joint five-goal top-scorer with Craig Dudley. Corazzin has made 23 appearances and fans expected a better return from a vastly-experienced player who has amassed more than 50 caps. But Ritchie insisted: "He is unselfish and does a lot of hard work. His running off the ball is very good and he holds it up well. We didn't have that type of player and that is what I brought him in for." He added: "He is making goals for others and I am sure he will have more under his belt as the season goes on. Everybody goes through bad times and you have to be kind to them."

Lee Duxbury is expected to comeback in the Boxing Day game against high-flying Wigan at Boundary Park. The 31-year-old midfielder has missed the last three games with his hamstring injury but is back in training. Andy Ritchie revealed: "I expect him to be ready for the Wigan game. He was almost ready to face Brentford, but I didn't want to risk him aggravating the injury and perhaps losing him for a month." He added: "The extra days should see him making a full recovery." Duxbury had been on top form and the Latics have missed his ball-winning skills in the middle of the park. Young Danny Boshell has been an able deputy but his style as a creative player is directly opposite to that of Duxbury who adds much-need "bite" to the midfield. Fans are reminded that the kick-off for the derby game against Wigan has been brought forward a couple of hours and will now get under way at 1pm. 

Meanwhile, Oldham manager Andy Ritchie has midfielder Lee Duxbury available again.  Duxbury has recovered from a hamstring injury he sustained in the home win over Oxford, which has forced him to miss the last three games. Ritchie, whose side saw their FA Cup dream ended by Peterborough in midweek, names an unchanged squad for the trip to the capital. A club spokesperson said: "We will be looking to bounce back from the defeat in the cup and go down there and come back with a win." 

BEEsotted.com
 

Latics Injury Crisis  As Brentford prepare to kick-off their Christmas/New Year period of games against Oldham Athletic on Saturday, reports are that the Latics are facing a long list of injuries. Despite a fine run of form on the part of their opponents, Brentford should feel confident of picking up three points.

Oldham Athletic have already suffered one lot of 'Brentford revenge' this week, hopefully on Saturday afternoon the players can serve up a second helping. It was Oldham that deprived the Bees of an FA Cup 3rd Round tie against Chelsea two years ago, on Tuesday night the Latics missed out on a repeat when they lost to Peterborough in their 2nd Round replay.

As reported yesterday, apart from the usual suspects on the Bee' long term injury hit list, Brentford may only have to make one change to the starting line-up that lost at Wrexham last week. Jay Lovett being the victim of the flu bug that is doing the rounds at the moment.

Meanwhile, the Latics have a long list of injuries. They have joint top scorer Craig Dudley, defenders Paul Jones and Barry Prenderville and Neil Adams out of Saturdays fixture. Captain Lee Duxbury may return to the fold, having missed the last few games.

Andy Ritchie's Oldham have struggled again this season. Having said that they have topped the Division this year, albeit for the first weekend of the season after they beat Port Vale 4-1. Since then though it has been all downhill. The Latics slumped to 21st in the table but have had something of a mini-revival in their past few games. They have lost just once in their last six league games. This run includes an impressive victory away at Stoke. Ray Lewington rightly said this week that this season's Second Division is so tight with every team seemly being capable of beating anyone else on their day.

If the Bees can repeat the kind of performance that saw us claw our way from 2-0 down and eventually draw with Wigan three weeks ago, the home side should have few worries about claiming all three points. But last weekend's set-back in Wales showed that despite our recent upturn in form, the team are still struggling with consistency, and confidence in some quarters is fragile. Beesotted's prediction, for what it's worth, is for a 3-1 home win.

Brentford beat Oldham 2-0 in our last league meeting at Griffin Park, goals from Derek Bryan and Herman Hreidarsson doing the damage, the full Chronicle match report can be read by following the link attached in the Fixture archive.

Following the Police's decision to close the singing section of the ground (New Road Block B) for the remainder of the season, tomorrow also sees Brentford FC opening its doors to children. The club is offering free admission to youngsters so make sure as many of you as possible take the opportunity to introduce the next generation of Bees supporters.

Contributions and letters should be sent to Gary Davies by e-mail at [email protected].or at Boundary Bullet-zine,41 Verney Road,Royton,Oldham,United Kingdom.OL2 6AZBoundary Bullet-zine Archive can be found at http://www.geocities.com/laticsgary.geo.The views expressed on this e-zine are not the views of Oldham Athletic F.C. nor necessarily the views of the Editor.This e-zine is a unofficial publication NOT sanctioned by Oldham Athletic Football Club.The editor will not publish any letters containing bad language.This e-zine is written using Microsoft Outlook Express and is best viewed with the HTML (rich) text option enabled.