The Latics were dreadfully unlucky and were denied a fifth away win by a disputed injury-time penalty at Brunton Park which gave Carlisle United an undeserved point. The linesman indicated the penalty to the referee but arguments raged to whether Paul Black's challenge was inside or outside the penalty area. Manager Paul Dickov was convinced it was not a penalty and he was disappointed and aggrieved by the incident which cost Athletic two points.
Dickov praised his teams performance and said, “We were excellent, especially in the first half when we played some great football and scored two really good goals and possibly could have had more. We started the second half well, but you are not going to come to places like this and not have spells when you are not under pressure. They scored their first goal, which we were disappointed about. They then threw everything at us, but I thought we coped very well with it until a decision which was out of our hands cost us two points.”
“He (the referee) told me he made an honest decision. He said he couldn't see what happened so he took the word of his linesman. We were standing 40 yards away and could see it was outside the box. I asked the linesman if he could not have thought about it more as his flag went up quickly. As he was swinging he caught the boy's leg. There was contact, but was it a foul or not? I do know it was outside the box.”
The Latics made the perfect start by taking the lead as early as the eighth minute through Aidy White after he side footed the ball home from close range. Taylor glanced in a header in the 33rd. minute to make the visitors two to the good and Tounkara had two clear-cut chances to make it three but it wasn't to be although Athletic remained in full control of the game.
The point took the Latics to fifth in the table and most supporters would have taken a draw before the game although the players came off the field feeling as if they had lost.