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Oldham Athletic 1 Huddersfield Town 1

29/ 9/2008

ANDY Liddell's second-half goal rescued a point for Athletic from a fiercely contested match against a Huddersfield side nowhere near as bad as their league position would suggest.

With Latics top of League One and the Terriers in lower mid-table, all roads pointed to a fourth home success of the season for John Sheridan's men.

However, Stan Ternent's visitors made it an uncomfortable afternoon throughout and did enough to suggest they could be a force to be reckoned with once their plethora of new signings gel.

In contrast, Latics struggled to create many clear cut chances with Chris Taylor and Lee Hughes both shackled by the visiting defence.

There was also the question of how Latics would deal with the absence of suspended skipper Sean Gregan.

 Although the recalled Stefan Stam got through 90 minutes without any problems, his ring-rustiness ensured a nervy time at the back with Mark Crossley and Reuben Hazell having an uncomfortable time of it.

Indeed, Athletic could have been a goal down within 19 seconds as Liam Dickinson outfoxed Hazell before finding Ian Craney, only for Crossley to be off his line quickly to block his shot.

Employing the ubiquitous 4-3-3 system, Huddersfield had great joy in playing the ball up to Dickinson who would keep possession before finding his supporting midfielders.

They took the lead in that fashion with the half-hour approaching, Dickinson cutting inside and the ball falling to Craney who beat Crossley with an effort into the far corner.

Ironically, the goal came just as Latics were starting to impose themselves going forward, albeit without forcing Matt Glennon into a save of note.

Taylor twice shot straight at the keeper, while Kelvin Lomax found the side-netting from the corner of the 18-yard box.

Credit where it is due though as Latics began the second half well and equalised in the 49th minute after Taylor was felled by Goodwin.

Liddell and Mark Allott played a one-two from the free kick and Liddell placed a low shot under the wall and inside Glennon's right- hand post.

From there, the game descended into a fractious affair, not helped by some poor refereeing hich saw the game end with six bookings.

Huddersfield skipper Jon Worthington was especially fortunate that referee Kevin Friend was in a benevolent mood as he could easily have been dismissed.

He escaped censure for a first-half tackle, saw yellow for an X-rated foul on Mark Allott, and should have been booked again in stoppage time when hacking down Danny Whitaker.

Nevertheless, a point was a fair outcome and kept Latics top of League One, knowing they had passed one of their stiffer tests to date.