MOLESLEY MEN ARE WIDE OF THE MARK
DISAPPOINTED Southend boss Mark Molesley rued missed chances and the woodwork as his battling side shared in a goalless draw at Oldham.
The Shrimpers amassed 15 attempts on goal and hit the crossbar twice, but their single-point return wasn’t enough to stop them dropping back into the relegation places.
“Clearly the stats speak for themselves,” said Molesley.
“We created enough chances to have won the game comfortably, but in the end we’ve had to settle for a point.
“We need points at the moment, but today we’ll have to be content with just the one.
“We came agonisingly close on a few occasions. The threat was there throughout the game from us, but there’s no excuses from me, you just have to make these things happen yourselves.
“Maybe with a bit more quality in the final third we could have got over the line, but it wasn’t to be.
“That’s one point from the past two games, and that’s probably the most disappointing thing, given the way we’ve played.
“We’ve got to keep looking forward, though, and maybe we all need to be taking a bit more responsibility.
“Whatever happens, we’ll keep believing and we’ll always keep working hard.”
It was a first half short on quality from both sides at Boundary Park.
Oldham went close early on when Bobby Grant rose to meet Dylan Fage’s cross and headed narrowly over the top.
But the closest either side came was when Southend’s Portsmouth loanee Reeco Hackett-Fairchild crashed a snapshot against the crossbar from 15 yards.
Southend striker Emile Acquah headed against the crossbar minutes after the restart, but after that there was precious little goalmouth action at either end.
The visitors were pressing hard for an opener and substitute Ash Nathaniel-George forced Ian Lawlor into a decent stop before, at the other end, Carl Piergianni planted a free header over the top in the dying seconds.
Oldham boss Harry Kewell tried to remain positive, as his side continue to try and ease away from a potential relegation fight.
Kewell said: “I thought defensively we were solid and we passed the ball around quite well.
“We just failed to execute, though, and ultimately our delivery in and around the final third just wasn’t good enough.
“I thought we were in control of the game.
“Don’t forget both teams are fighting hard. We’re fighting to improve our performances, but I guess overall a draw was a fair result.
“I think people underestimated Southend a little going into the game.”