The Latics turned on the style and gained suitable revenge for the 4-2 reverse they suffered at Hartlepool in the New Year. Paul Dickov's young, energetic side produced the performance of the season to cement their position in fifth place. Every player played their part and there was never any doubt about the outcome as their play was relentless.
After the game a delighted Dickov said, "We were excellent against a good team and, no disrespect to them, we won comfortably and could have had a couple more goals. We knew they would come with five in midfield and one up front to try and nullify us so we had to be patient, even after we scored our first goal. As pleased as I was with some of the excellent football we played and excellent goals we scored, I was delighted with the clean sheet."
"We always look for a reaction after any disappointments we have had. Heads can go down and you can start to question yourself. The boys went out and were big, strong and confident. They took the game to Hartlepool and played some fantastic football."
Aidy White gave the home side the lead in the seventh minute with a goal when he was on the spot to hammer home the rebound from his previously saved shot. The second came from Chris Taylor in the 51st minute as he knocked home his eighth goal of the campaign and Evina got the third, his second Oldham goal, and what a cracker it was. He overlapped to hammer home an unstoppable volley from all of 25 yards.
Tounkara was replaced in the 73rd minute by Reuben Reid who was given his home debut, and the 22-year-old put the icing on the cake with an easy header into the roof of the net in injury time. It rounded off a memorable night which was spoilt by a pitiful crowd of just 3,056. The team are playing with conviction and look destined for a fine run into the end of the season and it's time the stay-away fans got themselves back down to Boundary Park to witness the transformation and support the faith which the Athletic board have shown in Paul Dickov.