31st December 2000
31st December 2000 Three inches of snow had to be cleared for the match to go ahead and, in places, the pitch was still frozen. But both sides defended well in what became a scrappy and uneventful contest. Oldham boss Andy Ritchie said: "My lads showed excellent attitude and they should be congratulated for that. "We adapted better to the conditions and had the clearer chances, but their keeper made a couple of great saves. "One slip could have been very costly, but we did well and we're glad we didn't lose. "The lads showed a lot of courage and no one shirked any responsibility. "It's good to take four points out of six against Wigan and Walsall , although this might have been the harder of the two games if we had been able to play properly."
Walsall, surprisingly dropping their captain Tom Bennett who was rested, had the first chance when Gabor Bukran had his 18-yard shot blocked well by Shaun Garnett . Lee Duxbury signalled a spell of Oldham dominance when he fired in a piledriver from the edge of the box , only for James Walker to make the first of his super stops . After 25 minutes Lee Duxbury was behind another move which ended with James Walker keeping out an unmarked header by Anthony Carss . And the keeper was at it again just before half-time when Carlo Corazzin turned inside the area and hit a low shot which looked destined for the bottom corner . The second half was a non event , although Walsall did have a penalty appeal refused when Darren Byfield went down in the area.
Club officials would like to thank all those Latics fans, and some Walsall fans, that turned out on Saturday morning to clear the snow from the Boundary Park pitch which allowed the game to go ahead.
Chief Executive Alan Hardy said 'Considering we are the second highest ground in the country to play a game today was a magnificent achievement for all concerned. A lot of Premier League games were called off today and the Football League programme was virtually wiped out so it just goes to show what a magnificent job those fans did for their club and I would like to thank them most sincerely. We could all see that the conditions for the players were far from ideal but we got the game on and everybody deserves credit for that achievement'.
Teamtalk OldhamOldham
made it just two defeats in twelve games with a goalless draw at home to
promotion challengers Walsall on Saturday afternoon. It was always going
to be a tricky contest on a frost-topped surface and both sides made plenty
of mistakes.
In the end,
Oldham boss Andy Ritchie was no doubt happy enough to come out of the game
with a point as the Latics continued to climb up the table. The home side
had the better of the chances but found Walsall goalkeeper James Walker
in fine form.
Latics skipper
and top scorer Lee Duxbury brought a superb diving save from Walker with
a stinging 25-yard drive. Three minutes later, the busy Tony Carss saw
a point-blank header saved. Then, in the 44th minute, a shot on the turn
from 18 yards by Canadian international Carlo Corazzin was also stopped
by acrobatic Walker. Second-placed promotion favourites Walsall began to
look more dangerous near the end but they were still unable to force Latics
'keeper Gary Kelly into a worthwhile save for the whole of the 90 minutes. Teamtalk
Walsall
Wigan cut the gap at the top to two points with a 2-0 win at Luton which puts them in second spot. Simon Howarth's 11th of the season opened their account and Stefan Bidstrup made sure of the points against the Hatters, who stay one off the bottom.
Walsall narrowed the gap with a point in the 0-0 draw with Oldham at Boundary Park while Bjarni Gudjonsson, the manager's son, netted the winner in Stoke's 1-0 win over Bristol City which lifts the Potters to fifth. Jamie Forrester grabbed his 17th of the season but Northampton were held 2-2 at home by Wycombe. Steve Brown gave the Wanderers the lead and Danny Bulman maintained it after Forrester's equaliser only for Steve Howard to pop up for the Cobblers five minutes from the end.