Michael Duff rues Cheltenham not making dominance count at Oldham

Posted Sunday, October 06, 2019 by PA

Cheltenham manager Michael Duff felt his in-form team deserved all three points after they were held to a 1-1 draw at Oldham.

The home side went ahead through Filipe Morais’ early goal before Ryan Broom’s 71st-minute equaliser made it six games without defeat for the Robins, who would have gone top of League Two with a victory.

Both sides wasted chances to grab victory and Duff said: “We were the dominant team throughout.

“We dominated every department and we had two penalties not given. There was a foul on Ryan Broom and another on Alex Addai when the keeper definitely caught him, so things have gone against us.

“The most pleasing thing is that, when we were 1-0 down, we never panicked or whacked it. We kept believing in our game.

“There were times when we needed more urgency, but we played well. There is disappointment that we didn’t take all three points, but we know that sometimes in football you don’t get what you deserve.

“After dominating the first half we didn’t start the second particularly well, so we had to do something to break the sloppiness.

“The subs were really impactful and we knew the chances would come for us if we kept doing the right things.

“I have to look at the bigger picture and it’s a draw away from home and another game unbeaten.

“We are disappointed, but we have put in another good performance and we will crack on from here.”

Oldham head coach Dino Maamria said: “It was a tough game. If we had taken our chances we would have won, but we tired in the second half and that’s something I will need to work on.

“It’s a good point against a very good team who came here third in the league. I thought we showed a lot of resilience.

“There was quality in our play going forward and we had two great chances to win the game through Christopher Missilou and Tom Hamer, who definitely should have scored.

“The fans were behind us from minute one, which is what we need to come together as a football club, and overall it was pleasing.

“Physically we need to get better because I want us to be winning games in the last few minutes, rather than hanging on. We had one or two out there who hadn’t started a game for a while, but we can do more.

“It’s a work in progress, but I’ve had three games in charge now and we are in a better place than we were a couple of weeks ago. We are moving forward.”