LATICS FAIL TO FIRE AS BLUES TURN THE TABLES

FC HALIFAX Town boss Chris Millington hailed the end of his side’s miserable run of form as they battled to a hard-fought victory at Boundary Park.

Without a league win since December, the Shaymen took the points from a scrappy clash which saw Oldham forward Mike Fondop sent off before former Latics striker Emmanuel Dieseruvwe scored from his own saved penalty.

“It was lively, for us as a group of players and staff it went how we wanted it to, all we were worried about was the result today,” Millington, the former Oldham assistant boss told The NLP.

“Oldham are always going to be a handful, they had spells of dominance but after the sending off the intensity changed and we were able to control the game a bit more.

“It’d be polite to say it’s been a horrible run we’ve been on and so three points were absolutely essential.”

Oldham had shown an upturn in form in recent weeks, unbeaten in four heading into this.

But, despite a bumper crowd of almost 7,500 roaring them on, David Unsworth’s men failed to register a shot on or off target all afternoon, leaving Halifax easy pickings.

They started the brighter, creating opportunities, the best of which saw Dieseruvwe turn Oldham captain Liam Hogan on the edge of the area but he could only lift his shot over an onrushing Magnus Norman but wide of the post.

The second-half, beginning with little promise of any greater quality, erupted into controversy as Fondop appeared to lift an arm on Halifax defender Tylor Golden. Referee Dean Watson, officiating his first game in the National League, showed the Cameroonian striker his fourth career red card.

“It was a sending off, Mike has already apologised to everyone in the dressing room,” Unsworth accepted.

“I felt it was a 0-0 game until that point, through the intensity of it and the way it was playing out – there wasn’t much in it. Then we go down to ten men, concede a pretty questionable penalty and that’s the game. It’s disappointing after the good run we’ve been on.”

The buildup to the penalty saw the only moment of genuine ability on show, as Halifax midfielder Harvey Gilmour played a fantastic ball over the top for debutant Max Wright to force a good save from Norman. As the ball spilled out, skipper Jordan Keane hammered a shot straight at the arm of an Oldham defender, with the referee pointing to the spot. Despite Norman saving his first effort, Dieseruvwe followed up to tap in his ninth National League goal of the season.

Millington’s side weren’t forced to face to too much in the way of an Oldham response, leaving them to cruise to a comfortable win.