Welcome
to today's issue of
BOUNDARY
BULLET-zine
The
Daily On-line e-zine for 272
Oldham Athletic Supporters
Worldwide
Today's
Edition for
7th September 2000
Today's
Headlines
Oldham
Evening Chronicle
Athletic
snap up versatile Barry
ATHLETIC
have completed the signing of Irish defender Barry Prenderville. The
23-year-old, who had five years at Coventry City, has impressed Athletic
during two trial spells. Prenderville,
who never made a league appearance for the Sky Blues, has played league
football during a loan spell at Scottish side Hibernian. For the last six
months Prenderville, who scored the winner for the reserves against West
Brom last night, has played for Dublin-based St Patrick’s Athletic. “I
am delighted to be back with a league club and can’t wait to get stuck
in and establish myself here,” said Prenderville, who has arrived on a
free transfer. Athletic manager Andy
Ritchie is pleased with his capture, saying Prenderville’s versatility
— he can also play in midfield — makes him a valuable addition to the squad. “Barry
has proved, by being at Coventry so long and also at Hibs, that he can
play against top opposition,” said Ritchie. “He is also keen to get another
chance to play in English football.”
Prenderville’s
signing has been made possible because of the departure of Paul Beavers,
and Stuart Thom’s imminent move. Beavers has completed a transfer to Darlington,
for whom he has signed a one-year contract. Thom, meanwhile, is expected
to join Scunthorpe United early next week after a month on loan. Athletic
have also received an inquiry from Nationwide Conference club Chester for
transfer-listed striker Steve Whitehall. Ritchie is hoping the departure
of several players will provide some scope to bring in new personnel.
Athletic
were celebrating today after being drawn to play Sheffield Wednesday in
the second round of the Worthington Cup. Wednesday, who were relegated
from the Premiership in May, ought to draw a sizeable crowd and provide
much-needed income for Athletic. “It
is a great draw, both from a playing and financial point of view, as we
could have been drawn against clubs like Crewe or Tranmere,” said Ritchie.
The two-leg tie will also see John Sheridan return to Hillsborough, providing
he has recovered from knee surgery. Sheridan
scored the winner for Wednesday against Manchester United at Wembley in
the final of the 1991 Rumbelows Cup. Then, in 1993, he helped Wednesday
to reach the finals of both the FA Cup and Littlewoods Cup.
Teamtalk
Oldham
Ritchie
warns players
Andy Ritchie
has told his players to forget about their cup exploits and concentrate
on the league form. The Latics dumped first division Huddersfield out the
Worthington Cup with a stunning display of attacking football on Tuesday
night which brought a 2-0 win. And Ritchie described it as one of the best
performances since he took over the Boundary Park hot seat. But he has
brought his players back to earth and warned them to focus on one game
- Saturday's second division fixture at Wrexham. The Latics have one injury
worry ahead of that game.
Young midfielder
Danny Boshell strained stomach muscles doing sit-ups and missed the Huddersfield
game. He won't train until Friday to give as long as possible for the problem
to clear up, but is expected to be in the squad to travel to North Wales.
The Latics hit rock bottom last Saturday against Notts County only for
the splendid backlash against Huddersfield. Ritchie said: "Don't ask me
to explain it because I can't, it was just unbelievable. "I know one thing,
if we can transfer that sort of form to the league then we would soon be
climbing the table."
Reserves
beat Baggies
The Latics reserves
beat West Brom 1-0 at Stalybridge's Bower Fold ground on Wednesday night.
And new signing Barry Prenderville made it a scoring debut.
The 23-year-old
Irishman, who signed a contract to the end of the season only hours before
the kick-off, turned on the edge of the box to hit the winner with 12 minutes
to go to give the Latics their first three points of the season. Prior
to his strike Prenderville, a former Coventry player and a free agent,
was a commanding figure at the heart of the Latics defence.
Ritchie
reaction to draw
The Latics have
pulled in what should be a money-spinning tie in the second round of the
Worthington Cup taking on Sheffield Wednesday. The first will be at Boundary
Park on Tuesday, September, 19, with the return at Hillsborough the following
week. Boss Andy Ritchie is delighted with the draw. He said: "It is good
from both a footballing and financial view. "And it is excellent for the
fans who won't have far to travel and have a lot of expense. "It is a game
to look forward to." It
also has added spice for veteran midfielder John Sheridan. The 35-year-old
was a Wednesday player when he scored the winning goal against Manchester
United in a 1-0 victory in 1991 when the competition was know as the Rumbelow's
League Cup. Sheridan, who can look back on two World Cups and three domestic
finals, still insists that goal is the highlight of his career. It was
the first major trophy Wednesday had won in more than 50 years and Sheridan
is still hailed as a hero with the Yorkshire fans.
Wrexham Evening
Leader
STRIPES
ARE BACK
DOWNCAST Wrexham
look to a happy-go-lucky Irishman and 'Uncle' Sam to win back their stripes.
Skipper Brian Carey and striker Hector Sam need to play key roles against
Oldham at The Racecourse on Saturday after the shattering Worthington Cup
defeat by Mansfield Town. Cork-born Carey missed the cup calamity because
of a back injury and Trinidadian Sam was one of the few to come through
with his growing reputation intact. Carey - touch wood - hopes to return
against the Latics and realises the importance of that result. Wrexham
have still to win at home this season. "The place was like a morgue the
morning after the cup defeat," said Carey. "The lads know they didn't play
well and it was disappointing because we feel we've done half-decent so
far. But the other night against Mansfield only brought back some of the
bad memories of the last couple of seasons. There were just too many poor
performances all round. But I thought Hector had another decent game. He's
a good prospect all things considered. "When you bring players in from
the likes of Trinidad there is obviously a settling in period for them.
But Hector and Carlos Edwards have done well in that respect. They've already
played a lot of games and Carlos is back and to the Caribbean almost every
week!"Carey,
32, wasn't risked in the cup but hopes to reclaim his place as Wrexham
go into a hectic two home games in four days. He thinks he strained a muscle
in his back in the 6-0 FAW Premier Cup win at Bangor City last Saturday."It
got better on the Sunday but my back got stiffer by the Monday," he said.
"I have my fingers crossed I will be fit for Saturday because it's a game
we need to win." Carey has kissed the blarneystone a few times in his life
and if ever Wrexham needed the luck of the Irish it's now. The hangover
after that Stag night on Tuesday rippled round The Racecourse from directors'
seats to the terraces. Rank and file fans filed out early and even chairman
Pryce Griffiths admits he was tempted to walk out before the end. The crowd
of 1,447 was the second lowest of all cup games on the night and that is
also worrying. Wrexham can't even contemplate losing on Saturday - and
they're not. Manager Brian Flynn is proud and there isn't a worse loser
in the game than coach Joey Jones. But they can only do so much and once
they players go on to the pitch it's up to them. That's where the influential
Irishman and slippery Sam come into their own. . .
Sheffield
Star
Cup
hero fights to face the Owls
SHEFFIELD
Wednesday’s Wembley hero John Sheridan is fighting to be fit for a dream
Cup date against the Owls. Wednesday have been drawn against his current
club, Oldham, in the second round of the Worthington Cup. It was Sheridan
who scored the winner in a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in the 1991
final to earn the Owls their only major trophy of the last 65 years. He
has started only one game for Oldham this season because of a minor knee
problem — he had keyhole surgery three weeks ago — but the Latics hope
he will be fit to face the Owls.
Contributions
and letters should be sent to Gary
Davies by e-mail at [email protected].or
at Boundary Bullet-zine,41
Verney Road,Royton,Oldham,United
Kingdom.OL2
6AZBoundary
Bullet-zine Archive can be found at http://www.geocities.com/laticsgary.geo.The
views expressed on this e-zine are not the views of Oldham Athletic
F.C. nor necessarily the views of the Editor.This
e-zine is a unofficial publication NOT sanctioned by Oldham Athletic Football
Club.The
editor will not publish any letters containing bad language.This
e-zine is written using Microsoft Outlook Express and is best viewed with
the HTML (rich) text option enabled.