3rd February 2000
3rd February 2000 ANDY RITCHIE was today forced to play a waiting game in his bid to bring a new striker to Boundary Park. The Athletic manager’s intended loan target will only be released by the unnamed first division side if their injury problems ease. Ritchie is anxious to bring in the player as top scorer Mark Allott is likely to be out for a month with a hamstring problem while Craig Dudley is only just returning following an injury lay-off. He said: “The manager concerned is keen for the player to go out on loan but, unfortunately, the club has a lot of injury problems, as well as a couple of suspensions, so he might not be available immediately.”
Ritchie added he has identified a couple of other strikers he might like to bring in as cover. But he pointed out that nothing would happen on those fronts until next week and they would be dependent on the move for the main target coming to nothing. Aussie trialist Peter Mihalopoulos scored last night on his reserve-team debut, and also provided an assist for the second goal, in a 2-2 Pontins League draw against Preston. The striker impressed throughout but he picked up an ankle injury late on when a Preston player stamped on him. Ritchie doesn’t think the injury is serious enough to keep him out of next week’s reserve-team fixture.
Sugden’s
late strike salvages a point
ATHLETIC
RES 2, PRESTON RES 2
RYAN
SUGDEN’S late equaliser rescued a point last night to keep Athletic in
the hunt for the Pontins League premier division title. It
was a scrappy performance from Athletic, but 19-year-old Sugden made no
mistake from close range and pressed his claims for first-team involvement
this weekend. The hosts’ first leveller
had come from Australian trialist Peter Mihalopoulos, whose speed, running
and work rate looked particularly promising. Danny
Boshell also did well again, but the other Aussie, defender Kon Antoniou,
struggled to handle the pace of the game. After
Jordan Tait and Danny Walsh went close for Athletic, Preston took the lead
in the 21st minute when Mark Beesley poached a goal from a corner. Tait
then had a free-kick blocked after visiting ‘keeper David Lucas handled
a back-pass, while another effort was cleared off the line from the resulting
corner. Athletic were back on terms after
27 minutes, Mihalopoulos neatly heading home Boshell’s cross from eight
yards. But Preston restored their lead
just past the half-hour mark when Adam Eaton crashed in an unstoppable
drive from the edge of the box. The visitors
almost conceded a farcical goal seconds after the break, a clearance being
blasted straight at Ryan Kidd and rebounding to graze a post. Athletic
needed some fine goalkeeping by David Miskelly to keep them in the game
before Sugden pounced in the 85th minute, turning home the rebound when
a Mihalopoulos shot was blocked.Athletic,
who had four players booked by an extremely fussy referee, would have won
it in injury time but for a fine save by Lucas.
Athletic:
Miskelly, Graham, Futcher, Antoniou (Smith 68), Jones, Tait, Walsh, Boshell,
Innes (Gardiner 76), Mihalopoulos (Wardle 90), Sugden. Subs (not used):
Campbell, McLoughlin.
| LIONS WITHOUT BIRCHAM | ||
| Millwall will be without injured Canadian star Marc Bircham for their clash against Oldham at the New Den. Bircham was hurt in the game at Bury a few weeks back and has not recovered as quickly as expected. However, he is the only injury worry as the Lions look to get their promotion hopes back on track following their setback at Chesterfield last weekend. Lions manager Keith Stevens said: "We want to get three points to bounce back, but we know it is going to be difficult against Oldham. But the lads here have got a lot of character. "The bottom line is, we just did not perform against Chesterfield, but a win against Oldham will put things right and that's the main thing." Athletic hope to continue their rise up the Division Two table when they travel south to tackle Millwall. Recent form has seen the Latics put distance between themselves and the relegation-zone and all of a sudden the play-off places are now a realistic target. But manager Andy Ritchie does have striking problems, with Mark Allott out for up to a month and Paul Beavers struggling with a groin injury. Craig Dudley could be fit for the bench along with Ryan Sugden, who also has a chance of playing. | ||