Maamria’s delight at ‘must-win’ encounter

DINO MAAMRIA hailed a massive three points for his Oldham side, after a blitz in the opening quarter of the second half sealed a vital three-point haul.

The visitors had taken the lead through Lewis Young, but the Latics rallied in the second half, with goals from

David Wheater and substitute Mohammed Maouche to earn Oldham a win which pushes them up to 19th in the division.

“It was a huge win and I didn’t shy away from it either, having told the players beforehand that it was a must-win game,” said Oldham boss Maamria.

“I was disappointed with the goal in the first half after we had started OK. They scored from their first attack and we gave them too much space.

“There is progress here and we know what we need to do in terms of changing a few things in the transfer window in order to get the team to compete at the top end of the table where we should be.”

Home forward Desire Azankpo had wasted a great chance in the 11th minute, hesitating after being set clear on goal by Chris McCann’s pass, before being tackled.

Crawley responded when Young danced his way infield unchallenged from the right flank after 17 minutes, slotting a left-footed shot home.

Wheater’s header from a Smith corner kick in the 49th minute was followed by a well-taken team move finished off by Maouche nine minutes later

The French midfielder accepted substitute Scott Wilson’s well-weighted pass to side-foot home from 12 yards and ease the hosts’ relegation worries. Crawley’s Tarryn Allarakhia was unlucky to see his drive from a narrow angle deflect off a post as his side aimed to draw level.

Crawley head coach John Yems said: “They played the same way in the second half, but we dealt with it better in the first half.

“They took their chances whereas we didn’t. We created the chances, but we have got to start putting them away.

“We have got to move on. This highlights some of the problems the team has had over the past six months – which is, not scoring goals.

“Good players do it all season and we are not consistent enough. I feel gutted for the fans who came. The two goals we conceded were really sloppy.”