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Oldham Athletic 4 Cheltenham Town 0

Gavin Browne
25/ 8/2008

LEE Hughes' 17-minute hat-trick made it three wins from three, sent Athletic to the top of Coca-Cola League One and handed them their best start to a season for 18 years.

If you believe in omens, the last time a Latics team achieved such a feat came in the 1990/91 campaign which ended with promotion to the former First Division.

While manager John Sheridan is refusing to get carried away, the class of 2008/09 have racked up 10 goals in three league games and conceded three - all of them coming against Millwall on day one.

Four goals is a wide enough margin of victory in anyone's book, but Cheltenham were lucky it was not more as Hughes and fellow goalscorer Danny Whitaker both hit the woodwork, while a number of passable chances were also passed up.

Hughes could have had five in the first half, in addition to the one he scored in the final minute before the interval, such was Latics' dominance going forward. He twice fired straight at Shane Higgs, saw Michael Townsend deflect another over shot the bar, fire wide of goal from Lewis Alessandra's pass and then hit the post from inside the six-yard box following a
goalmouth scramble.

Higgs also denied Mark Allott and Chris Taylor saw an effort blocked, while at the other end, Jennison Myrie-Williams fired over and Ashley Vincent shot straight at Mark Crossley when he might have perhaps done better.

Latics' pressure finally told seconds before the break when Allott found Alessandra, whose lofted ball over the defence was hammered home by Hughes.

Knowing the second goal could be crucial, Athletic doubled their advantage five minutes after the break with a fine team move. Whitaker picked out Kelvin Lomax, his cross found its way to Andy Liddell who kept his head before coolly finding Hughes to sidefoot home from six yards.

Higgs beat away another effort from Alessandra before Crossley preserved Latics' two-goal advantage with a fine save to deny Myrie-Williams from eight yards. That save proved vital as Latics quickly made it 3-0, Hughes heading home Neal Eardley's excellent cross.

With Cheltenham not looking like pulling one goal back, let alone three, Sheridan took the chance to introduce the likes of Deane Smalley, Kevin Maher and Chris O'Grady as the clock wound down. The latter played his part in the final goal, laying off Alessandra's pass to Whitaker who fired a low shot past Higgs from 18 yards.

Although future opposition may not be as generous as Cheltenham, more displays like this and Athletic will be a team in the hunt for a top six spot.