Oldham 2 Swindon Town 2 

Coca-Cola League One

 

RESULT: Oldham Althletic 2 Swindon Town 2

 

Oldham scorers: D Livermoore 50, M Allott 55

Swindon scorers: L Peacock 29 & 58

 

Goal celebration: Cox and Peacock combined to save a point for Town

Swindon were once again made to pay for some sloppy defending as they failed to take all three points at Boundary Park against Oldham.

Following the shambles against Walsall at the weekend, Town boss Maurice Malpas made three changes to his struggling team.

Christian Roberts came in for the injured Jon-Paul McGovern, Pat Kanyuka came in for Jerel Ifil, and most surprisingly Chris Allen replaced Anthony McNamee.

The first-half proved that stern words from Malpas had the desired effect, with the team playing well - and in particular Christian Roberts, who made a real impression on his first-team return.

Indeed it was the tricky Welshman's cross that undid the Oldham defence for Town's opening goal.

Following a poor defensive clearance, Roberts' pin-point cross found Lee Peacock, who despite having his header saved, was on hand to smash in the rebound.

The goal deservedly gave the Robins the lead, and it was one that they could have easily extended before the half-time break, with both Billy Paynter and Craig Easton going close.

                                          5-minute glitch

However, Town's defensive demons came back to haunt them at the start of the second-half. Following an early Oldham corner, Mark Allott's shot deflected off David Livermore and beyond a stranded Phil Smith.

And only minutes later the home side went in front, with Mark Allott once again smashing the ball goalwards as Smith failed to hold it, allowing the ball to slip through his grasp and trickle agonisingly over the line.

To Swindon's credit they weren't behind for long as Roberts and Peacock combined again. 

This time the winger's right-wing corner met by the tireless midfielder, whose goalbound header may or may not have touched Simon Cox before finding the back of the net.

Town's young midfielder Chris Allen went closest to handing Swindon a winner but his free-kick drifted agonisingly wide of Mark Crossley's upright.

Town were forced into a substitution with 15 minutes left as Lee Peacock limped off, being replaced by Sofi Zaaboub.

Unfortunately for Swindon they were unable to find the goal that would have handed them all three points, leaving a result that doesn't help either team as they both look for a play-off berth.

 

Swindon stay 13th, now 8 points behind the last play-off spot.

 

The League One Table

 

1 Swansea 32 35 70
2 Carlisle 32 15 58
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3 Nottm Forest 32 24 56
4 Doncaster 32 19 56
5 Walsall 33 14 52
6 Tranmere 34 8 52
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7 Southend 33 6 50
8 Leyton Orient 34 -5 49
9 Leeds 33 23 47
10 Northampton 34 0 46
11 Brighton 31 6 45
12 Oldham 33 5 44
13 Swindon 33 2 44
14 Huddersfield 32 -13 43
15 Bristol Rovers 30 1 41
16 Yeovil 34 -13 41
17 Hartlepool 33 0 40
18 Millwall 34 -14 37
19 Cheltenham 34 -19 36
20 Gillingham 32 -18 35
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21 Crewe 34 -19 35
22 Luton 33 -13 25
23 Bournemouth 34 -17 23
24 Port Vale 34 -27 22 
 

NEXT GAME

 

Leeds Utd (h)

Saturday 1 March 2008, 2.00pm

Coca-Cola League One