Oldham Athletic concluded their pre-season campaign with a 1-0 victory over League One side, Shrewsbury Town, writes James Kellett.
Throughout the 90 minutes Oldham were dominant, but Shrewsbury will be disappointed with their lack of threat going forward, and most particularly their hesitancy at the back.
Oldham started the better of the two, as left winger Jes Uchegbulam caused problems for the Shrewsbury right hand side.
The League One side managed to settle, with the ball ending up in Oldham’s net at one point, however striker John Marquis was in an offside position after a spill from goalkeeper, Matthew Hudson.
Oldham took the lead at 23 minutes following a powerful strike from Mike Fondop. After a sharp interception in midfield, Fondop was given the ball to slip through Harry Charsley, the winger rounded the keeper but his effort would hit the post, luckily Fondop could capitalise on the rebound.
The opening goal would coincidentally ‘open’ the game as both sides created chances.
Aston Villa loanee, Tommi O’Reilly came close to an equaliser with his strong effort being tipped away by Hudson, but Oldham continued to test Shrewsbury after a skewed headed clearance found Fondop, but the centre forward fired just wide; five minutes before the closure of the first half.
Latics went in a goal to the good at the break, looking firmly on top of proceedings.
Shrewsbury opted to make two like-for-like changes for the second half, Morgan Feeney and Tom Bloxham made way for Aaron Pierre and Harrison Biggins.
Five minutes in would see tempers boil over a tad as Fondop and Pierre entered a scuffle, both would go on to be added to the referee’s book.
The Shrews improved on their first half performance with O’Reilly shooting past the far post, after pouncing on a loose pass by midfielder Dan Gardner.
Shrewsbury continued their second half pressure as John Marquis fired straight at Hudson, only to be flagged offside.
Oldham made four changes during the midway phase of the half with Mark Kitching, Josh Lundstram, Alex Reid and a Trialist all being introduced.
The introduction of substitutions helped the hosts to regain control and even create further chances, most notably through Alex Reid who saw his glancing header aim for the bottom corner, but Toby Savin did extremely well to get low and parry the ball out for a corner.
Shrewsbury’s last roll of the dice came with a triple change approximately ten minutes before full time, however this would be inconsequential towards the final result.
The game proved to be a perfect dress rehearsal for Oldham ahead of their league season opener against newly promoted Braintree Town on 10th August.
Although a pre-season friendly, the game was physical in parts thus offering great preparation for the fixtures ahead, but most impressively Oldham were keen to press from the off and box the visitors in.
A performance characterised by a well drilled Oldham team, my special mention goes out to right back, Reagan Ogle. His high octane effort gave the home side a threat pushing forward, but would also ensure the back line was not left a man short, demonstrating all the qualities of an ideal modern full back.
After a three game unbeaten streak against League One sides in pre-season friendlies, Latics supporters have a reason to hope this could be the season they see their club return to the Football League.
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