25th October 1999 

Royals win
Stitch angry!!

OLDHAM ATHLETIC 1, READING 2 

AT a time when match officials are coming under increasing scrutiny, referee Phil Joslin did his colleagues few favours by reducing this game to the level of farce. Mr Joslin, who was so afraid of reprisals that he demanded an escort to his car after the game, somehow managed to leave both sets of fans baying for his blood — quite a feat for someone who wasn’t supposed to be noticed over the course of 90 minutes. He gave a dreadful penalty, missed a blatant spot-kick near the end and allowed an Athletic goal which clearly stemmed from a handball. Quite apart from those match-turning howlers, the Notts official destroyed an already poor game by posting an undistinguished half-century of free-kicks. This was an afternoon which needed all the help it could get in order to light the fires of inspiration. Mr Joslin extinguished every last spark and, in the process, deflected attention on to himself rather than the obvious shortcomings of below-par Athletic. For this was a performance which Andy Ritchie’s players will want to forget in a hurry. They missed their chances, left holes at the back and never found any kind of direction in the pivotal midfield area. In the absence of the ill John Sheridan, Athletic were an orchestra without a conductor.

Until Ritchie can find a way of filling the void Sheridan leaves, the person who passed on their ‘flu bug should be quarantined in a Boundary Park broom cupboard. Athletic got away with their scrappiness in the previous match at Blackpool, but found Reading far less charitable opponents. The Berkshire side, who had not previously taken an away point, showed enough doggedness to hold on quite comfortably after Darren Caskey’s retaken penalty became the most hotly-debated moment on a day of argument and conflict. For a team who had just taken seven points out of nine, Athletic were strangely subdued. Even after Craig Dudley put them back on level terms with his first goal for the club, they seemed to lack the courage of their convictions. That frailty allowed Reading to grab the initiative and inflict a fourth defeat in six home games. It was just such a record which landed Athletic in the mire last season and this latest setback perpetuates the belief that they are happier playing away from Boundary Park. Ritchie who, in fairness, is having to contend with several injuries, stood by a winning team and again saw a promising effort from Dudley. The speedy 20-year-old has had quite an impact in his three starts, but his first run in the side has coincided with a quiet spell for Mark Allott. If Allott can rediscover his touch while Dudley remains in form, Athletic will have a useful front pairing. Until then, they must follow the example of Reading, who showed the killer touch to go in front with their first attack of the game. Nine minutes in, Caskey’s chip to Keith Scott allowed the big forward to brush off Mark Hotte and shoot against the inside of a post. The rebound fell kindly to Andy Gurney who lashed the ball into an unguarded net.

Athletic should have hit back immediately when Allott was put through by Richard Graham, but the six-goal top scorer placed his shot far too close to goalkeeper Phil Whitehead. After Paul Rickers also missed a good chance, Athletic levelled in the 20th minute courtesy of Dudley and the referee’s first serious blunder. A mistake by Linvoy Primus allowed Dudley to cut in from the left and pick his spot expertly in the far corner. Reading, however, were fully justified in claiming that the scorer had used his hand to control the ball once Primus had been robbed. Reading almost regained the lead when Caskey’s shot was deflected on to the roof of the net, while Allott squandered his second clear opening after a clever reverse-pass from Dudley. Then came the moment which settled the outcome and left Athletic seething with fury. Caskey’s flick certainly made contact with Rickers’ hand as it set off across the area, but it was from such close range that Rickers had no means of avoiding it. Justice appeared to be done when Gary Kelly made a brilliant low save from Caskey’s penalty, only for Mr Joslin to order a retake because Athletic had encroached on the area. According to the letter of the law, he was perfectly within his rights to do so and, for what it’s worth, that particular decision will not be disputed from this quarter. But that didn’t stop Athletic from surrounding the referee angrily when, at the second attempt, Caskey sent Kelly the wrong way.

Ritchie had to restrain his players when the half-time whistle blew, yet their performance after the break rarely showed enough penetration to warrant an equaliser. Instead, it was Reading’s Martin Williams who had the best chance of the half, missing an absolute sitter when Athletic’s offside trap failed them. With free-kicks against both teams being tossed around like confetti, all the hosts could muster was a well-saved Lee Duxbury header which, from the resulting corner, almost led to an own goal. But their fury flew off the Richter Scale deep into injury time when Graham was wrestled to the ground in pursuit of a left-wing cross. The referee, who also turned down two late appeals for handball, waved away penalty claims to give Ritchie’s men a curious sort of Pyrrhic victory. It had been a close-run thing to see which side Mr Joslin could most wind up with his decisions, but this made it game, set and match to Athletic.

Joslin a disgrace, says Ritchie

THE post-match thoughts of both managers were dominated by controversial referee Phil Joslin. It was predictable enough that Andy Ritchie would have some harsh words, but even Reading counterpart Alan Pardew cut through the relief of his side’s first away win to give a a critical verdict. First to Ritchie, who said: “He got it right three times when he blew his whistle — that was at kick-off, half-time and full-time. “You can’t blame it all on the referee, but he does have to take a big burden. He was an absolute disgrace. Enough said.” Ritchie accepted, however, that Athletic had been a big disappointment after their previous run of one defeat in five games. He complained: “We had enough chances to be 5-1 up at half-time but, in the end, we could have played until next Tuesday without scoring again. “Craig Dudley got a good goal back — although, to be fair, he probably handballed it — but Mark Allott had two great chances and Paul Rickers should have scored as well. “I gave them a volley at half-time because we hadn’t played well and we weren’t taking our chances. “In the second half we had almost all of the game, but we didn’t put enough telling crosses in and we should have caused Reading far more problems than we did.” 

Pardew believed his team had battled well enough to deserve all three points. He said: “We showed a lot of character in a game which wasn’t refereed well. “It was a poor spectacle and the officials need to take a look at themselves “Both sides tried to play football, but they made it very difficult. “We had a bit of a panic because there were five minutes of injury time, but I was convinced we would hold on, even though we had to ride our luck at the end.” Of Darren Caskey’s winner, a spot-kick incident which took a good three minutes to resolve, Pardew added: “We said at half-time that we needed to be careful. “If you get a disputed penalty you are liable to see one at the other end. “The referee’s performance was questionable anyway because, before that, we thought he was against us. “I looked at the whole scene when the penalty was being sorted out and, to be honest, it was a bit of a shambles.”

Ritchie rallies his men for cup clash

ATHLETIC must pick up their spirits from the dressing-room floor before tackling shock-seeking Chelmsford in the FA Cup on Saturday. With the part-time outfit fired up for a famous giant-killing act, Athletic cannot allow the weekend defeat by Reading to play on their minds. Chelmsford, who play in the Dr Martens League eastern division, already consider themselves winners thanks to the relative windfall they will receive from playing a Football League club. They have nothing to lose on the pitch either, even though they must bridge a gap spanning four divisions. After the controversial defeat against Reading, Athletic boss Andy Ritchie said: "We have some very big matches coming up, starting with a cup tie which we need to win. "And when we get back into the league, we have to make the most of our home games by taking as many points as possible from them." Defender Andrew Holt added to Athletic's injury list on Saturday when he was forced off at half-time with a dead leg. He is expected to regain full fitness quickly, while Ritchie is also hoping that key midfield man John Sheridan will recover from a bad dose of 'flu. Sheridan, who has missed the last two games, should be ready to resume training later in the week.

But Ritchie, who will still be without Stuart Thom, Shaun Garnett, Phil Salt, Jordan Tait and David McNiven, will otherwise have to pick from the same squad as Saturday. He is still waiting to know the severity of Tait's groin injury, which could yet be diagnosed as a hernia. The young defender is still waiting for an appointment with the specialist. 

Any cup replay with Chelmsford will be played at Colchester's Layer Road ground on Wednesday, November 10. Police refused Chelmsford permission to play at their 3,000-capacity home in Billericay and the second division club has agreed to stage the match, which would mean Athletic postponing their November 9 league fixture at home to Millwall. The league match against Colchester, originally scheduled for two weeks on Saturday, will now take place a day later, on Sunday, November 14, with a 2|pm kick-off. This is to avoid a clash with the England-Scotland Euro 2000 play-off at Hampden Park.

ESPN

Reading picked up their first away points of the season and ended Oldham's three-match unbeaten run with a 2-1 win. They went in front after nine minutes when Andy Gurney hit his first goal of the season after a Keith Scott effort had rebounded off a post. Oldham fought back to equalise after 20 minutes when Craig Dudley, making his full home debut, scored his first goal for the club after taking advantage of a defensive mistake. The Royals took all three points though with a controversial penalty decision on the stroke of half time. Oldham were pulled up when a shot hit Paul Rickers on the hand with his arms at his side. Keeper Gary Kelly saved Darren Caskey's first spot-kick but he made no mistake with the second after it was ordered to be re-taken when Oldham defenders encroached in the box.