4th October 1999 

Beavers struggling
Ritchie's views

DEFIANT manager Andy Ritchie is refusing to panic as Athletic continue in free-fall at the bottom of the second division. Saturday's home defeat by Notts County left Athletic with only one win in 11 league and cup games, but Ritchie insists he isn't feeling the heat. He said: "There is pressure because of the position we're in but, as I always say, a lot of people in this world are far worse off than I am. "We have to keep everybody upbeat, which I don't think will be a problem. "Apart from our defending on Saturday, we didn't play particularly badly. "The lads are still up for it, they are still buoyant and hopefully that will help us through." Ritchie launched a bitter tirade against his defence after the 2-1 defeat, accusing them of giving a "disgraceful" performance. He is eager for Shaun Garnett to return and, if the big centre-back has recovered from his stomach strain, he will go straight back into the side at home to Luton next weekend. There are high hopes for striker Steve Whitehall, whose ankle problems have restricted him to two starts all season, while the manager will also consider Craig Dudley for a starting spot. The 20-year-old was given half an hour in place of Matthew Tipton on Saturday and Ritchie said: "Craig is looking lively. "He lost some match fitness when he hardly played during his loan spell at Chesterfield, but he can stake his claim again in the reserves tonight." Dudley will play at wing-back in the Pontins League fixture at Stoke, with David McNiven and Ryan Sugden paired up front. 

Reserves: Miskelly, Dudley, McLean, Swan, Hotte, Futcher, Boshell, Walsh, Innes, D McNiven, Sugden. Subs: Campbell, Clitheroe, Wharton, Roberts, Wardle.

Relegation fight starts right now as Latics falter again

THE games-played column may not yet be in double figures, but there can be no doubt about it -Athletic are already involved in a fight to the death. This latest defeat made it seven in nine games, including three in four home fixtures, and left them dangerously adrift at the foot of the second division. While Athletic may argue that they are still at an early stage of the season, nine matches represent almost a fifth of the entire campaign. At their current rate of progress, Athletic will finish with a pathetic 20 points — well short even of half the total they need for safety. They are heading up a certain waterway without a certain implement.

And though relegation is a four-letter word around Boundary Park, it will soon become as much a part of the vocabulary as disappointment, desperation and the latest entry, defensive blunders. The pity against Notts County was that Athletic played enough decent football to take a point from high-flying their opponents. They worked hard in midfield, allowed County few sights of goal and a glance at the match statistics shows that they were never afraid to shoot. Many of those goal attempts came from the rejuvenated Mark Allott, who played with tremendous hunger until fading later in the game. It has been a remarkable transformation for the striker after he spent the first month of the season being castigated by boss Andy Ritchie for his reluctance to go for goal. Ritchie will also have been pleased with the tireless Lee Duxbury and his midfield collaborator, John Sheridan. As well as showing his customary vision and flair, Sheridan played with an anger which lifted his game on to another level. County singled him out for some rough treatment and the veteran responded with an aggression which stayed just the right side of the referee’s notebook.

Athletic’s defensive effort was adequate enough, apart from two critical errors. Failure to stay vigilant cost them dear both times, allowing the visitors to grab goals when the danger should have been cut out at source. That, perhaps, was the most frustrating aspect of Saturday’s match. Athletic began the campaign looking solid, only to be stymied by their lack of firepower. Now that the attacking problems have eased, it is at the back where they are getting it ruinously wrong. Ritchie again opted to play three centre-halves, with Scott McNiven the bungalow between skyscrapers Richard Graham and Stuart Thom. County left out the even loftier Matt Redmile, a move which allowed former Manchester United man Clayton Blackmore to switch from left-back and have a composed match at sweeper. Athletic made a confident start, with Allott’s 20-yarder testing goalkeeper Darren Ward after only three minutes. But the visitors should have gone ahead shortly afterwards when impressive wing-back Richard Holmes crossed from the right and Craig Ramage headed tamely wide from six yards. Sheridan’s feathery touch at set-pieces was behind the next opening, his free-kick to the far post being met by Neil Adams. The midfield man’s diving header was turned away by Ward before Allott’s follow-up effort was blocked by a defender at point-blank range. It was Gary Kelly’s turn to keep the scoresheet bare when he scrambled to his right to save from Mark Stallard. Something had to give, however, and after 38 minutes The Magpies stole the lead through Duane Darby, a striker who had agreed to play through the pain barrier in County’s cause. When left wing-back Dennis Pearce popped up deep in Athletic’s half, his generous hosts stood off so much that he had time and space to deliver a perfect curling cross. Even then, the danger could have been cleared. But Darby instead nipped in to head emphatically past Kelly from inside the six-yard box.

Athletic got back on level terms in first-half injury time and it was no surprise that Sheridan was the provider. His long free-kick floated towards the far post where Thom rose highest to thunder his header into the roof of the net. It was a goal Athletic’s possession had warranted, but the good work went to waste in the 67th minute. Blackmore delivered a free-kick into the area and Athletic, already defending far too deep, failed to cover Ramage 10 yards from goal. Kelly lost his footing as Ramage’s glancing header crept inside the post, but the ‘keeper later conceded that his slip had made no difference. Although Craig Dudley made another enterprising appearance from the bench, County hung on with hardly a scare. The win lifts them up to fifth in the table but, closer to home, means the coffin lid is already cracking open in this horrific season for Athletic. 

‘Defend like that and we’ll go down,’ says angry boss

ANDY RITCHIE had the clearest possible message for his players after they were beaten by two goals which should never have been conceded. “Defend like that and we’ll go down,” warned the manager, whose mood was as black as the armbands Athletic fans could soon be wearing. Ritchie was furious at the errors which handed Notts County all three points and at a loss to understand why training-ground theory had not become matchday practice. “It was disgraceful,” he blasted. “We’ve been working on things all week, but when it mattered we totally let ourselves down. “The problem is that, when Shaun Garnett isn’t there, nobody communicates or takes command. “Those players have been around long enough to know what they should do in certain situations. There are no excuses for a lack or alertness. “On the first goal, some of them were still arguing with the referee about a free-kic k, There were two or three not even looking at the ball.

“Then we didn’t close down their player (Dennis Pearce) and he put in probably the best cross of his career. “The second goal came from a free-kick which shouldn’t have been given, but we let th em push us right back into the six-yard box when we should have stood our ground. “It was schoolboy stuff. As soon as the ball went dead we switched off. “Notts County came for a draw and tried to nick things with set-pieces. They basically scored two goals from two decent shots and we allowed them to do it.’ ‘ either was Ritchie too pleased with events at the other end. He said: “We had umpteen chances because there were some great balls into the box. “Granted, we didn’t have much luck. But they have to be willing to die in there instead of watching the ball go right across the face of goal.” Visiting manager Sam Allardyce admitted that the result didn’t reflect the balance of play. He said: “A draw might have been a bit fairer, but we won the game by being clinical with our chances. “The three points give us more confidence and security because being in the top six lifts everybody at the club.”

Undoubtedly, Sam Allardyce will demand an improvement from his team when they return to the north-west to face Neil Warnock's Bury on Saturday. The result at Oldham will make that trip less daunting and a point or three would set Notts up nicely for a forthcoming run of three home games in ten days later this month. The game at Bury will see Notts without goalkeeper Darren Ward, on international duty with Wales, and defender Ian Richardson, who is likely to have a one-match ban for his sending-off against Bristol Rovers confirmed on Wednesday. Reserve goalkeeper Paul Gibson will hope to overcome a shoulder injury in time, while Richardson's absence may prompt Allardyce to step up his bid to sign a defender on loan. Having seen his defence leak 11 goals in the previous six games, Allardyce axed Matt Redmile — who can consider himself the unfortunate victim of a need to change things — and brought in Dennis Pearce, switching Clayton Blackmore to the middle of the back three. The experiment just about came off on Saturday but, even with Richardson presumably replaced by Redmile, Warnock's powerful Bury side may call for a more dominant stopper than Blackmore, whose defensive skills lie in his reading of the game. Oldham, who took until their fifth game of the season to score a goal, were never likely to prove such a test for Notts and their token threat was snuffed out within the first 15 minutes.

Neil Adams — who, along with manager Andy Ritchie, played in Oldham's glory days in the top flight — saw his 25-yard shot split by Ward, who recovered smartly to prevent Matthew Tipton following up. At the other end, Craig Ramage headed wide from a Richard Holmes cross when it seemed easier to score — echoes of Ninian Park a fortnight earlier — but the midfielder deserves credit for his constant willingness to join the attackers and he, after all, was to have the last laugh. Mark Warren's brave tackle prevented Paul Rickers giving the home side the lead after Ward had pushed Mark Allott's header aside, and the defender briefly left the field for treatment as he injured himself in clearing the danger. Notts, however, took command and played much of the first period in the Oldham half, with Holmes and Pearce getting forward well. It was no surprise when they went ahead, with Gary Owers' alertness spreading the play from a quickly-taken free kick and Pearce whipping in a perfect cross which Derby headed downwards and into the net. It was Darby's fourth goal in his last seven games and the very least he deserved for a typically rampant first half display before succumbing to his recurrent groin strain. The goal seemed to deflate Oldham, who should not have been allowed to equalise on the stroke of half-time. John Sheridan's free-kick was well placed, but Allardyce is sure to have asked serious questions about why defender Stuart Thom was given the space to score at the far post. For whatever reason, Notts simply failed to perform in the second half. Although they restricted their poor opponents to long range efforts, they will know defeat would not have been harsh. A 20-minute spell saw them constantly gift possession to Oldham, who really should have asked more serious questions of the Notts defence. The arrival of former England Under 21 forward Craig Dudley as a substitute, for only his second appearance since his moved from Notts in March, gave the home side fresh impetus and he did enough in the final half-hour to suggest he can make a decent impact at Oldham. Just as Notts looked in danger of throwing away the match, though, they predictably pushed forward to give Notts an anxious last ten minutes, which saw Redmile replace fellow substitute Kevin Rapley.