LEYTON ORIENT 2, OLDHAM ATHLETIC 1
Head coach Keith Curle blamed “amateurish defending” for Oldham Athletic’s Sky Bet League Two defeat at Leyton Orient.
It was a frustrating afternoon in East London where individual mistakes proved costly as Latics were unable to build on the home win against Exeter City four days earlier.
So in the end Alfie McCalmont’s third goal in four games and ninth of the season wasn’t enough to stave off the loss, despite an encouraging overall performance.
Latics, now with only one win in nine games, created numerous chances and controlled large parts of the play, but two calamitous errors at the back in the opening period proved to be their undoing as they were unable to repair the damage.
Having registered his first win as Latics boss in midweek in his fifth game, Curle made one change from the victory over Exeter City, as Harry Clarke returned to the side after recovering from injury while Dylan Fage lost out.
Unfortunately, it was Clarke’s slip which gifted the home side an eighth-minute opener, as his attempted pass back to goalkeeper Laurie Walker was intercepted by former Latics’ loanee Conor Wilkinson who seized on the mistake with a clinical angled finish.
Despite conceding an early goal, Latics were undeterred in their play. Davis Keillor-Dunn was inches away from an Andrea Badan cross when directly in front of goal while the in-form McCalmont dragged a shot wide after great approach play from the Leeds United loanee.
Conor McAleny also displayed excellent footwork to engineer the visitors’ best chance of the half, creating an opening before hitting the far upright with an angled shot.
It remained an open game, with Walker saving from James Brophy, Wilkinson and Danny Johnson, before Latics conceded again two minutes before half-time.
A slip from Nicky Adams presented Dan Kemp with a chance to turn and rifle an unstoppable finish into the bottom left-hand corner.
To their credit, Latics continued plugging away and their good football was rewarded just after the hour when McCalmont struck in spectacular fashion, curling a shot past goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux from outside the box.
The visitors should have completed the comeback, as Keiller-Dunn failed to find a finish after Adams had linked with Badan before the attacker went close again and McAleny then shot over.
Latics must have thought they had equalised in stoppage time when Raphael Diarra’s header from a McCalmont corner flashed over the bar before Piergianni sent the ball wide as the visitors were unable to capitalise on their late pressure.
Oldham Athletic: Walker, Clarke, Piergianni, Whelan, Keillor-Dunn, Jameson, McAleny, Badan (Fage 70), Hilssner (Diarra 55), Adams (Borthwick-Jackson 81), McCalmont. Subs (not used): Bilboe, Ntambwe, Sutton, Vaughan.
Goals: Wilkinson, 8, Kemp, 43, for Leyton Orient. McCalmont, 61, for Oldham Athletic.