24th November 1999
24th November 1999 ANDY RITCHIE hinted that he is happy with the progress of his managerial career after Athletic took a well-earned point at Bristol City last night.
A draw was the least Athletic deserved, leaving the boss to ponder that things are slowly taking shape. Ritchie said: ``It needs time and hard work to get it right — you can't be overnight sensations. ``I've had just over a year at it now and I'm still not especially happy — there's still plenty of room for improvement. ``But, as a manager, I believe you must stand up for what you believe in. ``My slant is that I want my team to play football and I think we are doing that quite well.''
Athletic have now suffered only two defeats in 11 games and could have returned from the West Country with the full three points. Ritchie said: ``I would have taken a draw beforehand if you had asked me, but we really should have had more goals. ``We had more clear-cut chances than Bristol City and one lapse in concentration cost us at the other end. ``It was important that we didn't lose the game because we want to keep having something to build on. "The players feel the same because it was a happy dressing room.
``I thought last night was the best we've played for four games. We kept the ball, passed it around and made inroads.'' Craig Dudley missed the match because of a thigh strain, but the player himself anticipates being fit to face Wrexham on Saturday.
With Mark Allott and Steve Whitehall both on the scoresheet this week, it will be interesting to see how Ritchie juggles his three main strikers. As expected, Richard Graham was again ruled out by a stiff back. Athletic can do no more than keep their fingers crossed that X-rays don't show anything serious for the injury-jinxed defender.
Bristol City 1, Oldham Athletic 1
AT this rate, the Fat Lady will never become a die-hard Athletic fan. Almost every time she clears her throat to sing these days, Andy Ritchie’s battlers snatch a precious late goal to change the tune of the match. At Ashton Gate last night, it was Mark Allott who hit the right note with the 83rd-minute equaliser. It was a goal, and a point, Athletic thoroughly deserved after their stubborn refusal to allow Bristol City the centre stage. The never-say-die attitude added to a lengthening catalogue of points picked up at the death. Remarkably, this was the ninth time in 18 games that Athletic had scored in the final 10 minutes. They are also unbeaten in five away from home and might have won this match with a sharper edge in the opposition penalty area. Despite losing two important players in Richard Graham and Craig Dudley, they outplayed a City side who haven’t had a League victory since mid-September. Athletic were tidy and compact throughout — a team who knew what they wanted and had a pretty good idea of how to achieve it. They played clean, attractive football — with Mark Innes the pick of the midfield — and, other than the all-too-frequent sloppy goal, dealt competently with the home attack. The outstanding individual at the back was Shaun Garnett, whose constant barking of instructions is exactly what the young defence needs. Garnett may have his limitations, but just ask the likes of Andrew Holt and Mark Hotte how highly they rate his contribution to the overall effort.
While Athletic hardly noticed Graham’s absence, they did miss the option provided by the in-form Dudley. Without the striker’s speed, they lacked the extra turn of foot with which to vary their raids and take all three points. But Steve Whitehall was sharp and Allott’s seventh strike of the campaign should be a big boost to his confidence. Allott has recently been below the form which made him top scorer and, as he is unquestionably a player who thrives on personal success, the team as a whole can only benefit. If there is to be one criticism of Athletic’s gameplan, it is that Andrew Holt might have been pushed further forward on the left. The wing-back has a menacing presence when he gets in among defenders and could have added height and weight to the attack more often without taking undue risks. City had their moments, but the crowd’s response to their goal told a story of its own. Even allowing for their poor form, the evening was oddly subdued and had little of the fire and brimstone which usually goes hand in hand with matches in the second division scrappers’ zone. With Graham and Dudley injured, Athletic recalled Hotte at sweeper, Innes in midfield and moved Paul Rickers to wing-back. It took only three minutes for them to create their first chance, with John Sheridan’s precise pass leading to a Whitehall shot which goalkeeper Billy Mercer clutched at the second attempt.
The hosts’ sluggishness allowed Athletic to continue their control and, after another slick build-up, Whitehall almost reached a cross from Innes. Paul Mortimer’s long-range drive tested Gary Kelly, but it then took a courageous block by defender Paul Holland to prevent Rickers having a clear sight of goal in the 27th minute. Athletic, however, paid a high price for their only serious defensive error when City took the softest of leads six minutes before half-time. It was a failure to spring the offside trap which did the damage, Mickey Bell’s left-wing cross being allowed to reach Peter Beadle as the defence pushed up with arms raised. Beadle took the ball down 10 yards out and, as three men charged back to make amends, the shot took a deflection and spun just enough to elude Kelly and bounce gently inside the post. Athletic were nearly back on terms immediately after the restart when Allott produced a razor-sharp turn on the edge of the box.
His powerful shot was heading for the right corner until Mercer palmed it away. In the 55th minute, Allott’s blunder denied the visitors the equaliser their play clearly warranted. Sheridan and Whitehall worked the opening on the left and, when the ball was whipped in, Allott failed to make solid contact when the goal was gaping. Whitehall then had Mercer at full stretch, while Brian Tinnion’s educated left foot for City sent a volley whistling over the bar. Time was beginning to run out for Athletic and, with 17 minutes left, Matthew Tipton replaced Whitehall. Danny Walsh was also given his first chance of the season in midfield and, as has so often been the case, the changes brought their reward. Sheridan was the architect of the goal, feeding Scott McNiven wide on the right. The defender’s deep centre was perfect for Allott, whose downward header from close range was powerful enough to beat Mercer’s despairing dive.
Peter Beadle had been dreaming about his first City goal but his worst nightmare couldn’t have prepared him for what was to follow. To get off the mark at the seventh attempt should have laid the platform for City’s first League win in two months and 10 games. Instead, Beadle could rarely have derived such little pleasure from doing what strikers love best, so disappointing was the final outcome. There should have been no better time to return to Ashton Gate than after the two most encouraging results of the season, but try telling that to fans who, for the third successive home game, booed off a side showing a lack of belief that not only ruined last night but threatens to wreck a season. It was far from a thrill-a-minute but that could have been excused if City had built on Beadle’s 39th-minute opener, but the longer the game went on without the security of a second goal, the more the nerves crept in until Mark Allott claimed Oldham a deserved point in the 84th minute. Even City’s strike had an unreal quality as an unmarked Beadle chested down Mickey Bell’s centre before seeing his effort deflect off Andrew Holt and spin into the bottom corner to end a scrappy first half. Oldham, without first choice striker Craig Dudley through injury, promised more than they actually delivered early on, with some neat build-up play failing to stretch keeper Billy Mercer. Much of the visitors’ best work came courtesy of their vastly-experienced midfielder John Sheridan, who was on his game as early as the third minute with a sublime 30-yard ball to Steve Whitehall, who cut inside Shaun Taylor but found Mercer equal to his 20-yard shot.
City took too long to find their stride, with Paul Mortimer among those guilty of surrendering possession cheaply. With both sides playing five at the back, chances worthy of the name were at something of a premium. The best home attacks came via the flanks, chiefly the left, where Bell created early danger by whipping in a ball met by Beadle at the far post only for Steve Jones to be penalised for a foul on keeper Gary Kelly. Excellent service from Bell, again, and Scott Murray failed to receive a telling final touch and it was left to Mortimer to produce the first shot on goal after 22 minutes with a bullet effort from 30 yards. Paul Holland was marginally the pick of City’s three central defenders, no better illustrated than on the half hour when he bravely blocked Paul Rickers’ goal-bound shot. But the visitors, unbeaten away from home since September 18 when they lost at Bristol Rovers, were never out of the race and several times went close to levelling straight after the break. Top scorer Allott evaded Ivan Tistimetanu before firing in a fierce drive which Mercer turned around his post with an equally impressive leap to his right. Tony Pulis pushed Murray up by withdrawing Mortimer and giving fit-again defender Gerard Lavin his first action in more than a fortnight. Ten minutes later, transfer-listed striker Steve Torpey returned to end Jones’ frustrating night. Then Oldham struck with Allott’s seventh goal of the season. The impressive Sheridan found Scott McNiven, whose deep centre went unchallenged before the frontman’s towering header found the bottom corner despite Mercer’s best efforts.
Bristol City 1 - Oldham 1
BRISTOL CITY threw away another golden chance to claim three vital points at a stunned Ashton Gate last night. Peter Beadle scrambled in his first goal for the club since he arrived from Notts County towards the end of the first half, but to his and City’s dismay the breakthrough was once again not good enough to win the game. For the umpteenth time in the past year they were unable to kill the contest off and Oldham, who had looked calm and assured with some neat and enterprising approach work, grabbed a leveller through Mark Allott six minutes from time to clinch a deserved point. It meant City players and management again had to troop across the field at the end to shouts of discontent from the stands, although they had played their part in a reasonably entertaining game. City boss Tony Pulis admitted: "We come here and seem to get uptight and it's all wrong. It's a disappointing night for me after two terrific away performances because I was hoping we'd carry that confidence into the game.
It's a lovely pitch here, a lovely stadium, and while people might like to have a go at me, it's not me passing the ball or making the decisions on the pitch. "Confidence is a massive factor for players and if they don't play with confidence, they struggle. "There is that little undercurrent between players and supporters because of that. We needed that second goal because that would have taken away the inhibitions.” City could have found themselves behind after four minutes when John Sheridan’s precision pass found Steve Whitehall in space behind the defence. The striker cut inside and drove his effort, to City’s relief, straight at Billy Mercer. But the home side, desperate for a win after nine league games without one, responded with a positive move. Mickey Bell got a deep cross in from the left, which Steve Jones did well to nod down into the path of Beadle, who was just beaten to the bounce by keeper Gary Kelly on his goal-line. With Oldham playing neat, possession football in the opening exchanges, City found it tough to get any fluency into their game. Paul Mortimer, who still had howls of derision ringing in his ears following an awful clearance earlier, made amends with a good run and fine 30-yard strike, which Kelly dived to keep out. At the other end, City defender Paul Holland did splendidly to close down Paul Rickers as the wing-back unleashed a fierce shot after a good spell of Oldham pressure. But moments of tension were few as the sides, both playing five at the back, tried unsuccessfully to pass their way through each other. That was until 39 minutes when the opening goal arrived. Bell’s cross found an alert Beadle with room to swivel and he found the net with the help of a deflection, as Kelly scrambled to try and keep it out.
Oldham came storming back at the start of the second half. One swift move ended with Mark Allott thumping a vicious left-footed drive that looked destined for the top corner, but Mercer dealt with it brilliantly as he sprung to his right and turned the ball behind. Then a good spell of pressure almost paid off when Whitehall’s driven centre was glanced wide of a gaping goal by Allott as he steamed into the middle. On 63 minutes, wing-back Gerard Lavin made a welcome return for City after injury in place of Mortimer as Oldham’s probing football continued to cause problems. It was down to Tinnion’s cultured left peg to ease the nerves with a 20-yard drive that only just cleared the crossbar. After 84 minutes, however, Oldham snatched their equaliser. Scott McNiven’s centre was headed down and past Mercer by Allott and into the corner of the net. Shaun Taylor went up the other end and only just nodded wide Bell’s clip into the box, while Greg Goodridge joined the action in place of Ivan Tistimetanu. But despite a late assault, City couldn’t find the winner. Pulis, meanwhile, revealed that transfer-listed striker Tony Thorpe was on trial with Walsall while Wycombe were showing renewed interest in striker Steve Torpey and defender Mark Shail