26th December 2000  

Wigan beaten again

Manager Andy Ritchie said: "Wigan must be sick of the sight of us but we played very well over the 90 minutes.We put out our most experienced side available because they have a lot of know how and it paid dividends for us.Our front two did very well with Allott excellent and Carlo Corazzin having his best game for a long time.Carlo has been a bit disappointed with his form but he won his headers, brought people into the game and would have scored with a bit more luck."

Wigan Boss, Bruce Rioch added: "We started slowly and didn't get into it until the second half when we were more aggressive and attack-minded.But then we shot ourselves in the foot with defensive carelessness and couldn't retrieve it."

Rioch however was upbeat about his promotion dream adding: "Here we are at Christmas and halfway through the season with only 2 losses.If we thought we could go another 23 games with 2 more defeats we would be pretty pleased."

Both sides went close early on, Shaun Garnett for Oldham and Simon Haworth for the visitors. But the best chance arrived in the 32nd minute when David Eyres' lob was cleared off the line by Kevin Sharp. Oldham took control and led after 40 minutes when Corazzin's pass over the top was reached by Duxbury who fired into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. Wigan had a goal disallowed just before the break but they came out fighting,with Howarth being denied twice more, before Oldham cracked on 61 minutes. Sharp's angled shot was blocked by Gary Kelly but the rebound fell to Howarth who nodded his 10th of the season. Wigan were in control only to gift Oldham the winner after 72 minutes.Carl Bradshaw's straight pass on the edge of his own box put in Corazzin whose shot was saved.The ball broke back to him and his cross was calmly converted by strike partner Allott.

Teamtalk Oldham

Oldham stunned Lancashire rivals Wigan when they ended their impressive 18 match unbeaten run with a 2-1 victory at Boundary Park. Oldham won both the home and away clashes between the two clubs last season and Andy Ritchie's side looked to be continuing the trend when they took the lead five minutes before half-time through inspirational skipper Lee Duxbury. Duxbury was put in the clear with a clever through-ball by Canadian international Carlo Corazzin and cleverly chipped Wigan goalkeeper Derek Stillie for his sixth goal of the season to make him Oldham's top scorer. The home side then had to survive mounting pressure from Wigan and it was no real surprise when the visitors equalised through Simon Haworth's tenth goal of the campaign. But Andy Ritchie's battlers were in no mood to surrender and striker Mark Allott hit a deserved match-winner on 72 minutes for his second goal in as many games. 

Sporting Life Saturday ReviewMillwall ended Bournemouth's run of four successive wins with a 2-1 victory at Dean Court to leap back to the top of the table. The Lions led through Christophe Kinet's goal four minutes before the break, Jermaine Defoe levelled for the Cherries before Neil Harris seized the points with his 15th of the season after 70 minutes.

Walsall jumped three places into second spot after a 3-1 win over Cambridge, now without a win in 12 games. Gabor Bukran grabbed a brace in the first half, Paul Connor pulled one back for United but Pedro Matias sealed the result in the last minute.

Reading recovered from their shock defeat in the FA Cup with Jamie Cureton notching a hat trick in the 4-1 win over Luton to take his total to 15 for the season. Barry Hunter put Reading on the way with his first goal since November 1999, while Lee Nogan's effort for the Hatters will be little consolation to a team beaten for the fourth time in five matches.

Wigan extended their unbeaten run to 18 games after a 1-1 draw with Stoke at the JJB Stadium but it took an own goal by Brynjar Gunnarsson in the last minute to save the home side, who trailed to James O'Connor's 65th minute goal.

Oldham were within seconds of their first ever win at Griffin Park after Mark Allott gave them the lead after 54 minutes but Martin Rowlands levelled in the 90th minute to give Brentford a 1-1 draw.

Bury ended a run of nine games without a win - a slide which saw them drop from second to 17th in the table - with a 1-0 over Swindon, Paul Barnes notching the crucial goal after 30 minutes.

Andy Rammell grabbed both goals for Wycombe in their 2-1 win over struggling Swansea, for whom Stuart Roberts scored.

Northampton ended a run of four straight defeats with a 2-1 win at Peterborough. Posh led through Leon McKenzie after 26 minutes but there was no stopping Jamie Forrester who notched his 15th of the season and Ian Sampson grabbed the winner seven minutes from time.

Notts County kept their sixth clean sheet of the season in the 1-0 win over Wrexham. Richard Liburd bagging what turned out to be the winner after only two minutes.

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Neil 'Bomber' Harris took his total to 18 with the hat-trick which took Millwall clear at the top of Nationwide Division Two after a 6-1 win over Colchester at the New Den. Harris, a £30,00 bargain buy from Cambridge City two years ago, became the division's top scorer with goals in the 18th, 76th and a 90th minute penalty while Paul Moody added a couple and Paul Ifill competed the humiliation of United who had won their last three on the trot. A Robbie Ryan own goal was their only consolation.

Stoke were the only other side in the top eight to win, coming from behind to beat Bury 2-1. The Shakers led through Paul Barnes but Icelanders Rikhardur Dadason levelled and, after Bury's Jason Jarrett was sent off for a professional foul in the 66th minute, Brynjar Gunnarsson netted the winner six minutes from time.

Rotherham, the only side in the country to score in every game, lost their record when they were held at home to a 0-0 draw by Notts County Jermaine Defoe took his total to nine goals in seven games for Bournemouth as the Cherries triumphed 2-1 at bottom of the table Oxford. Defoe, on loan from West Ham, scored either side of Peter Fear's goal for United.

Cambridge United won for the first time in 13 starts, Tom Young's strike in the 65th minute bringing a 1-0 win over Wycombe

Bristol Rovers are the only side in England still without a home win after a 2-2 draw with Reading. The Pirates led through Nathan Ellington but Neil Smith and Phil Parkinson put the Biscuitmen on top only for Andy Thomson to grab a point with his 81st minute equaliser. But the day ended on a sad note for Rovers with Lee Hogg sent off for violent conduct in the dying minutes and Trevor Challis also getting the red card for foul and abusive language.

Wigan's 18-match unbeaten run came to an end at Boundary Park where goals from Lee Duxbury and Mark Allott gave Oldham a 2-1 win, Simon Haworth netting for Wigan.

Walsall made it four away games without a win when they went down 3-1 at Swansea despite leading through Brett Angell's third minute strike. Gianluca Savarese levelled and Stephen Jones and Steve Watkin gave the Swans their first win in 12 matches.

Port Vale lost for the fourth time on the trot, Craig Faulconbridge's ninth minute goal at The Racecourse giving Wrexham a 1-0 success. Vale had Mark Goodlad sent off for deliberate hand ball in the last minute.

Northampton made it maximum Christmas points with a 2-0 win over high-flying Bristol City, Dave Savage opening the scoring and Jamie Forrester netting his 16th of the season.

Luton won for the second time in nine games, beating Peterborough 3-2 at Kenilworth Road. Matthew Spring and Peter Holmes, with his first league goal, putting the Hatters in front before the Posh came back into the game with David Farrell's goal four minutes before the break. Emmerson Boyle increased the lead and, although Leon Mackenzie pulled one back with a 69th minute penalty, Town held out.

Swindon had goalkeeper Bart Griemink sent off for a professional foul and went down 3-2 at home to Brentford. Danny Invincibile gave Town the lead but the Bees replied with goals from Lloyd Owusu, Andy Scott and a penalty from Paul Evans. Bobby Howe's reply came too late.

Pos.	Team	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Millwall	23	15	3	5	48	21	+27	48
2	Walsall	22	13	5	4	40	22	+18	44
3	Rotherham	23	13	5	5	39	26	+13	44
4	Wigan	23	11	10	2	31	20	+11	43
5	Reading FC	21	12	2	7	46	26	+20	38
6	Bristol C	23	10	7	6	37	23	+14	37
7	Stoke	22	10	7	5	36	25	+11	37
8	Northampton	22	10	4	8	26	25	+1	34
9	Wycombe	23	9	6	8	23	22	+1	33
10	Wrexham	23	9	5	9	33	35	-2	32
11	Notts Co	22	9	4	9	25	33	-8	31
12	Colchester	23	8	6	9	25	29	-4	30
13	Brentford	21	7	9	5	26	33	-7	30
14	Bournemouth	22	7	7	8	34	27	+7	28
15	Cambridge	23	7	7	9	32	34	-2	28
16	Peterborough	23	8	4	11	27	31	-4	28
17	Bury	22	8	4	10	21	30	-9	28
18	Oldham	22	7	6	9	26	34	-8	27
19	Bristol R	21	5	8	8	26	26	0	23
20	Swindon	23	6	5	12	23	42	-19	23
21	Port Vale	21	5	5	11	22	29	-7	20
22	Swansea	21	4	7	10	20	29	-9	19
23	Luton	22	4	6	12	24	42	-18	18
24	Oxford	23	3	2	18	25	51	-26	11

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Oldham have become the second team to beat Latics this season in the League, ending a 20 match unbeaten run. Just as last season, the performance was well below par from Wigan, and Oldham took the lead in the 40th minute when Lee Duxbury latched onto Corazzin's pass and placed the ball low at the far post past Derek Stillie. Latics came out a different side for the first twenty minutes of the second half, and the pressure paid off in the 61st minute when Sharp fed the ball through to Liddell, who flicked it up in the air, leaving Sharp to cross back into the box. Ashcroft's initial shot was blocked by Gary Kelly, but Haworth was in the right place at the right time to head the ball into the net. However, a defensive error by Carl Bradshaw gifted Oldham all three league points. Bradshaw's poor pass enabled Corazzin to have a clear shot at goal, but Stillie parried the ball away, but Mark Allott easily slotted the rebound home into an empty net for Oldham's winner in the 72nd minute. Latics struggled to get any more attacks on goal as Oldham hung on for the win. Rioch said afterwards "We started slowly and didn't get into it until the second half when we were more aggressive and attack-minded. But then we shot ourselves in the foot with defensive carelessness and couldn't retrieve it." "Here we are at Christmas and halfway through the season with only 2 losses. If we thought we could go another 23 games with 2 more defeats we would be pretty pleased."