……….LACK OF MIDFIELD DOMINANCE NEEDS ADDRESSING
Oldham Athletic 1 City 1
Leicester came out of their first real test of the season, away at fellow promotion chasers Oldham, with a credible 1-1 draw; a fair reflection on a game in which the home side enjoyed the bulk of possession but the away side had the clearest chances.
Leicester made just one change from the last minute win at Huddersfield a fortnight ago with Morrison replacing Tunchev; the Bulgarian defender presumably deemed unprepared for this fixture having travelled from Georgia via Bulgaria over the last couple of days.
The opening spells were fairly even, not many clear cut chances with the defences on top. The first real effort came half way through the first half. Good work from Lee Hughes saw him cut into the penalty area before squaring it to Chris Taylor. His first time effort however was well blocked by Kerrea Gilbert. It was not until the final 15 minutes of the half did Leicester start to make chances, and despite getting closer and closer, ultimately The Foxes could not break the deadlock.
On 32 minutes a Nicky Adams corner was headed goalwards by Matt Oakley, but Hughes on the line denied the Leicester captain. Fryatt then burst past the right back and closed in on goal but ‘keeper Crossley made the angle difficult and the striker could only find the side netting (made even worse by the fact the majority of the away following thought it had gone in, much to the locals’ amusement!).
Just before the break Leicester missed the best chance of the half. A fabulous deep cross from Adams found Steve Howard at the back post. His header looped back across goal over Crossley, but hit the inside of the post and bounced clear. The ball fell kindly for Lloyd Dyer but sat up too high and the winger could only scuff the ball high and wide when the goal was open….
Half time brought two changes from Pearson; Gradel replacing Adams on the right and Kisnorbo coming on for Morrison, although the Oldham tannoy announcment somehow confused the returning Australian with Barry Hayles! The early stages of the second half followed the pattern of the first until Howard broke the deadlock on 54 minutes.
The big striker will never achieve the same hero status as his namesake Claridge, but today his workrate was reminiscent of Super Steve and he fully deserved his goal. Gradel won a free kick near the right corner flag, and Dyer whipped over an excellent cross. Howard running in planted a powerful header downwards and past Crossley.
Unfortunately instead of being the catalyst for Leicester to go and record their fifth successive league away win, it was Oldham that came into the game, nearly forcing an immediate equaliser when Martin did well to push away a fierce strike from Mark Allott.
For the next twenty minutes it was all Oldham, and here lies Leicester’s problem. Relying heavily on the two wings, when they are not as effective as normal, especially in the case of Dyer today, then the midfield really struggle. Oakley and King drift in and out of the game far too often and as Oldham continued to press there seemed no one in the centre of the park willing to dictate events and give the defence some respite.
After so much pressure it was no real surprise that The Latics equalised. A poor clearance from the edge of the area fell straight to Danny Whitaker who curled an unstoppable shot into the top left hand corner. It was a tad harsh on the defence, marshalled by the excellent Hobbs all game, but the failure to clear proved costly.
The last 15 minutes brought more pressure from Oldham, but this was interspersed by several counter attacks from Leicester, the best one seeing Fryatt release Gradel, but unfortunately the youngster’s first touch forced him inside and his curling effort hit a retreating defender and was cleared.
Bruno Berner replaced Dyer for the last 5 minutes before the proceedings were brought to an end. In some ways it was disappointing not to come away with all three points having taken the lead; however I do not think we’ll play many better teams than Oldham this year so in the context of the season overall, it was a valuable and well earned point.
Oldham: Crossley, Lomax, Hazell, Gregan, Byrne (Liddell 13), Taylor, Allott, Whitaker, Jones, Davies (Ormerod 66), Hughes. Subs Not Used: Fleming, Eardley, Alessandra.
Leicester: Martin, Gilbert, Morrison (Kisnorbo 46), Powell, Hobbs, Adams (Gradel 46), Oakley, Andy King, Dyer (Berner 86), Howard, Fryatt. Subs Not Used: Henderson, Hayles.
Att: 8,901
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation