Our third home fixture of the debut Premier League season saw future City gaffer Joe Royle bring his Oldham side the short distance to Maine Road. They had started the season relatively well, securing a good point at Stamford Bridge on the opening day before winning four points from home games against Palace and Forest, dropping points at Highbury just a few days previous. We'd begun the year, as you might expect, by failing to find anything resembling consistency; a point at home against QPR in Sky's first ever televised Monday night game, defeats without reply at Boro & Blackburn and a home win against Norwich City.
The phrase 'game of two halves' is probably overused nowadays, but this really was, six goals in little over half an hour and then Oldham defending for their lives for the second period. Peter Reid's time at City seems to be looked back on with mixed feelings amongst City fans. No-one would argue with the finishes, two consecutive 5th's and a 9th in which we ended up only the one win off another top six spot. The style of football, though, seemed to attract its knockers. I remember us playing some good stuff around that time, but there's no doubt that this particular game did nothing to quell the opinions that Reid and Ellis's long-ball tactics weren't everyone's cup of tea. On a brighter note, it did see the debut of young midfielder Garry Flitcroft.
We started the game brightly, Keith Curle floating a free-kick upfield from the centre of the park, Michel Vonk jumping well and heading the ball down into the path of Niall Quinn who swept a curling finish across Jon Hallworth, 1-0. Just a few minutes later and we'd doubled our advantage, another free-kick, the ball falling to David White who crashed an effort off the bar, Vonk fumbling the ball back in and Neil Pointon, who had left City for Oldham that summer, turning into his own net. Match more-or-less over then, not quite.
Oldham, to be fair to them, didn't give up. Shooting towards a boarded-up Platt Lane Stand, and just as the heavens seemed to open, they got one back. A corner on their left, a flick on, leaving Richard Jobson (another future Blue) to head past TC. Three goals in the opening ten minutes, those still finishing off pre-match pints no doubt gutted. On conceding, we upped the anti somewhat, Ian Brightwell being just off-target with a cracking effort, and White and Quinn being their typical menacing selves. We managed to further our lead shortly later, a long ball over the top, Pointon losing his bearings, White latching onto a throughball and hammering home from the edge of the area, 3-1. Even the most pessimistic Blues probably thought we now had this one wrapped up, erm...
Before half-time we somehow managed to concede two further goals. Firstly, Mike Milligan backheeled their second (i shit you not) after some good work from Ian Olney and Paul Bernard down the left, and then, following another set-piece, the mulleted Mike Milligan miskicked a volley which, heading well wide of the goal, seemed to deflect of Gunnar Halle's knee and into the net. 3-3, ffs!
After the break we continued to play very well, but sadly the luck we might've needed had all but dried up. Steve Redmond headed off the line, Mike Sheron hit the post with a volley after a teasing run down the right from Brightwell, the ref denied us a penalty after Niall Quinn was felled, and Quinn and White both forced terrific saves from their 'keeper.
So, a draw then, a disappointing outcome after holding comfortable first-half leads, but a great game. It wasn't all bad. David White had obviously done enough to catch the eye of the then England manager Graham Taylor, and was called up to make his only appearance in a friendly game against France. We also went onto follow the point up with back-to-back away wins at Wimbledon and Sheffield Wednesday, and we'd do the double over Oldham after a 1-0 win at Boundary Park in January. Our form would, as usual, be patchy. Good wins at Everton and Chelsea, and a 4-0 spanking of champions Leeds proving the highlights in a year that would prove to be yet another in which we demonstrated our inability to make a semi-final after a 2-4 home defeat by Spurs in the FA Cup.
Team:
Coton, I.Brightwell, Phelan, Curle, Vonk, McMahon, Simpson, White, Sheron, Quinn, Holden
Subs: Flitcroft, Reid
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