Smash And Grab (literally) as Oldham Beat Drop

Coaches left the Broadfield at 7.30 for Crawley Town final away game of what has been consolidating, yet enjoyable debut season in League One. Heading up the M1, and the picturesque M62, the coach was abuzz with that end of the season feeling. A win for the Reds would maintain a late play off surge, while a win for the Latics would prolong their stay in League One for another season.

After arriving at three sided Boundary Park I headed over to McDonalds. There was a distinct lack of home fans in the area despite it being 1.45pm. Walking back to stadium I picked up a rather flimsy match day programme and headed into the away end. Upon entering you are struck by the openness of the ground. The away fans were situated in the newer, Rochdale Road End. This was shared with the more vocal of Latics' supporters. Opposite was the 'Chaddy End', the full home end with a rather strange half painted roof. On one side is the old main stand where the benches are located. Opposite is the unused, derelict space.

View of the 'Chaddy End'

So.....onto the game. Oldham knew just a point would keep them in League One for another season and they came out all guns blazing, yet Crawley's defence held firm to reduce the Manchester outfit to minimal chances. A rather lacklustre first half saw very few attempts on goal, Matt Smiths looping header the only notable chance. Oldham stopper Dean Bouzanis blocked Billy Clarke's close range, near post effort. 

Unused side

During the second half there was still little separating the two sides, until 56 minutes when a moment of brilliance from Matt Smith gave Athletic the lead. Lee Crofts pin point pass allowed Smith to weave his way through the heart of the Crawley back line and narrowly beat Reds' 'keeper Paul Jones, who got a hand to the shot. Latics' fans erupted and cheers of 'We are staying up' bellowed around Boundary Park. With Oldham one up, and staying up, the atmosphere vastly improved. The game, however, was still tight and chances remained few and far between. Robbie Simpson almost doubled the lead before, in the 76th minute, Boundary Park was silenced by Mark Connolly's close range header into an open goal after a neat bit of trickery down the wing from Nicky Adams. The 156 loyal Crawley fans who made the journey were joyous and were quick to sing towards the rowdy opposition fans across the separation. Oldham stepped up and began to put pressure on the Crawley defence. Josh Simpson's late foul just outside the area on Jose Baxter gave Oldham one final shot at victory. Baxter's curling effort found the head of Jean Yves M'voto who bundled the ball in past a helpless Paul Jones. Boundary Park erupted once again, and unsavoury scenes developed as the goal sparked a pitch invasion by the home fans before the final whistle had even sounded. Oldham has grabbed victory two minutes into added time. 

Unfortunately, a fantastic occasion for the Latics was marred by a minority of supporters who attacked the Crawley Town Supporters' Coach. Two windows were shattered as 'missiles' were thrown towards the coach. Thankfully no one injured, but it left the fans to travel home on a horrific journey that saw them arrive back at base at 12.15am on Sunday. Despite the setback, Boundary Park is a classic football ground and one I will be returning to next season. The majority of Oldham fans were very welcoming and a great bunch. It is a shame that a few let them down. 

Offside! Offside! Offside! Dons Left To Rue As Three Chalked Off

Venue: stadium:mk

Attendance: 7746 (390 away)

Result: MK Dons 0-0 Crawley

Goalscorers: N/A

On Saturday Crawley Town made the journey to stadium:mk, Milton Keynes as they faced MK Dons. Leaving the Broadfield at 11am, we made a quick journey up the M25 and M1. 

Arriving at the ground just before 1 o'clock, the coach parked and you are immediately struck by the sheer size of the stadium. First stop was McDonalds, outside the away end. Despite it's out of town location, stadium:mk has a lot to do around it with a large leisure park and ASDA. After a short stroll around the stadium (quite a long one actually) we came across 'red dot bar'. MK Dons fans were very welcoming of away fans and there was some friendly banter enjoyed between both sets of supporters. A popular subject was that of AFC Wimbledon, the club formed after Wimbledon FC's relocation to Milton Keynes to become MK Dons. As this is a controversial topic I'll leave that there. After leaving red dot we headed to the away end. 

Upon entering the ground there is a large concourse which gave an unobstructed view of the vast 22'000 seater arena. Opposite the away section of the ground is the Cowshed end, home to the more vocal of the home support. On the left of you is east side of the stadium with 'MK Dons' embedded on the seats. The west side of the stadium is home to the dug-outs, executive boxes, and tunnel. We took our seats near the back of the away section on luxury padded seats. This is a first, especially for League One!

East side of stadium:mk

So....onto the match. A surprise addition to the Crawley Town starting line up was out of favour Sergio Torres, making an appearance in Matt Sparrow's absence. There was also the omission of striker Jamie Proctor. 

West side of stadium:mk

The first 20 minutes was dominated by Milton Keynes. After just 5 minutes striker Ryan Lowe scored with a close range header but the offside flag was raised. The goal music, however, came to the delight of the Reds supporters who enjoyed some rather embarrassing 'dad dancing'. Chances came and went for Dons but 'keeper Paul Jones was on fine form as he kept out MK numerous times, notably a world class stop, once again from Lowe. Daniel Powell somehow managed to scuff his shot from four yards out; one for the bloopers DVDs I think. Crawley were a threat on the break; a lot of the game played through Torres. They had a couple of chances in a fairly dull first half, before Ryan Lowe once again had an effort chalked off. The whistle for the break was music to the ears of Crawley Town. 

The second half saw Crawley improve, Billy Clarke lashing a half volley over the Dons bar before the Irishman he drilled a shot narrowly wide. Nicky Adams' long range strike was held well by Dons stopper Ian McLoughlin. Control fell back into the hand of MK Dons as Dean Bowditch and Shaun Williams were denied by formidable Jones in the Town goal. Lowe was denied a goal yet again as the offside flag was raised again following his tight angle shot. A scrappy last 5 minutes saw a goalmouth scramble in the Crawley Town box after a succession of late corners. The Dons pressure came to no avail and they were left ruing missed chances. 

Dons try a shot

Town chief Richie Barker was the happier of the two managers, having this to say. "I think that's probably the first game in about eleven we've not dominated. It's nice we've come away in a different way and picked up a point."

The point leaves MK Dons lying in 10th position while Town move up one place to 12th, three points behind. 

This was a thoroughly enjoyable away day with some great people, but a special mention must go to the MK Dons fans who made us all welcome with some great hospitality.