Oldham 5 - 3 Bolton

21 years later that looks like the best decision a sporting body has taken since Water Polo decided it would be a better game without horses.

Bolton arrived at Oldham in steady rain to find a pitch consisting mainly of sand and rolled mud, and perhaps in a different winter without a long fixture backlog already the game might have been postponed. Both teams were keen enough to start, however, so Oldham kicked off and retained the ball for a number of possessions without making much progress. Indeed this was to be the pattern for the afternoon as conditions made it almost impossible to make progress with the ball in hand. With that in mind, the first time Bolton got the ball Mike Mills kicked the ball into the Oldham corner and the next 15 minutes of the game were spent there. Even at the time this appeared to be the key period of the game as there were likely to be few scores under the circumstances and every opportunity needed to be taken. Oldham defended superbly, repelling driving mauls and individual thrusts, bundling Jack Robinson into touch a couple of feet from the line and even after a yellow card they kept Bolton at bay. Despite strong running from Chris Mee and the returning Ash Cooper the visitors couldn’t find a way through, so after another penalty the visitors decided to take the points and Mills kicked a penalty. This was to be his final act as he limped off shortly afterwards. From the kick off Bolton made progress back to near the Oldham line, but Louis Townsend picked up a yellow card of his own and the momentum shifted; Oldham made progress down the middle of the pitch through a series of scrums and scored wide out off the side of one of these. Bolton pressed again near the Oldham line and skipper Chris Cockton finally wriggled over to touch down only for the ball to squirt from his grasp before the referee could spot it. By now all the players were the same mud colour, so it was an impossible task in any case.

5-3 at half time became 5-3 at full time as both teams found it impossible to make progress in the second half. With even kicking from hand almost impossible given the conditions underfoot the match became a game of inches with the larger Oldham forwards keeping the ball well enough and Bolton unable to move the ball with any speed at all. Rhys Pritchard at full back fielded any kicks and always beat the first couple of chasers, but was unable to accelerate into space as the mud slowed him down and the hosts ran the clock down without any real alarms.

So another away defeat for Bolton , but not for the lack of trying. Oldham took their opportunity and Bolton, for all their huffing and puffing, failed to take any of theirs.

The abiding memory of the match was the look of the pitch at the end: a sea of mud and puddles, all lines eradicated and just a couple of patches of grass in the corner. The man sat on the steps sobbing quietly was, apparently, the groundsman. Good luck.

MoM – Chris Mee