Oldham Athletic 0 Notts County 1
In the second half Clegg replaced David Beharall as the Latics switched formations to 4-4-3 and their performance showed immediate improvement although chances came at both ends. Twenty minute into the half the Latics should have equalised after a Hudson header was handled in the box and a penalty was awarded. Jermaine Johnson could have made a name for himself but his spot kick was poor and Mildenhall had the easiest of tasks. Johnson did make a name for himself but it was one which shouldn’t be repeated! County striker Platt was sent off following an off the ball incident minutes later. Notts were holding strong and Hudson and Johnson got things mixed up in the last minute losing the last chance of salvaging anything out of a disappointing day.
A dejected Iain Dowie said after the game, “Normally reliable players were making rash decisions and letting the ball bounce and they were not dealing with crosses or through balls. Notts County were playing quite a direct way and we never dealt with that. It was madness but we'll keep working on it. We looked disorganised which is not like sides of mine. We spend a lot of time on organisation and we're going to spend even more now.”
“It was unacceptable and nowhere near the quality that we should be apart from maybe Jermaine Johnson in the first half and Ernie throughout the game but that's it. You can't give people that time and space. It's not an acceptable performance in any shape or form. I've defended the lads in the past but today the performance was nowhere near the standard that I expect and we will work hard on the training ground to get it right.”
Things need to be put right before next weeks FA Cup game at home against Blackpool. The Seasiders are on a three game unbeaten run while the Latics have gone down in their last two home games. Come on boys we need a win next week with hopefully a much needed financial boost against one of the really big boys in round three.