A Dominic Poleon brace of first half goals should have been enough to see off promotion chasing Sheffield United at Boundary Park in a match that Oldham dominated. Some bizarre refereeing decisions in the second half gave the Blades the impetus to score two goals which gave them an unexpected point to take back to Sheffield. The first such decision resulted in a corner that United knocked home in a crowded goalmouth and it seemed to shatter the confidence of the home side. The Latics did push late for a winner but it just would not come.
Dean Holden summed up, “The game had a bit of everything. It was a very entertaining game and two teams going for it. Sheffield United made substitutions at half time to be a bit more attack minded. They stuck the winger at right-back and went for it and we are obviously disappointed with the goals we have conceded. I thought we were well on top in the first half and could possibly have been out of sight but once they got the first goal back the pressure mounts. But, overall, we come up against a top team and it was a very entertaining game. They haven't really worked too hard for the goals. We didn't stop the cross for the first one, similar to last week at Crawley, and it should never fall to the boy to score. The second one, everyone in the ground knows it's a goal kick and the referee overrules the linesman which is a strange decision but once he's made that then you have to focus on dealing with it, and we didn't do that.”
“Poleon was unplayable in the first half. His second goal; what a strike that was. It was right into the roof of the net and the goalkeeper didn't see it before it hit the net so he was very good in the first half scoring two great goals. It was a good atmosphere and I enjoyed it. I'm sure the crowd enjoyed the game but I'm sure our fans will be disappointed with only a point. The lads are saying it feels like a defeat but as a whole you have to look what you are up against. We are missing a few in our team and it was a tough ask to go and take the three points but once we were in that position, we thought we could have gone on and won the game but it wasn't to be. We didn't lose the game which is what became important towards the end of the game and now we move quickly forward to Coventry on Tuesday night.”