Harry Kewell proud of Oldham after second-half comeback at Carlisle

Posted Sunday, February 28, 2021 by PA

Oldham boss Harry Kewell was proud as punch after his side came from behind to beat Carlisle 3-1 at Brunton Park.

Chris Beech’s Cumbrians took the lead through Josh Kayode. But three goals in 17 second-half minutes turned the tide as the Latics ended their three-game winless run in style.

Marcel Hilssner’s penalty and further goals from Dylan Bahamboula and substitute Carl Piergianni did the damage.

“I’m extremely proud,” beamed Kewell. “I know first half it was scrappy, but I thought we defended well.

“The way that my team came out in the second half was fantastic.

“We matched them physically, we matched them for heading and second balls and then our quality showed.

“For me Piergianni was man of the match, he came on, he ran the line, he won all his challenges and he got his reward in the end.

“It was another fantastic second-half performance. This team never knows when it’s beaten and I’m delighted.

“The guys who came off the bench changed the game and I’m extremely proud of every single one of my players today.”

And Kewell was delighted with how his side coped with Carlisle’ physicality.

He said: “Carlisle play a certain way, they play to their strengths, they work certain areas of the pitch and they dominate parts of the box.

“Law of averages says if you put 10 balls into the box you’re going to get one.”

Beech’s side were in the promotion mix before their enforced Covid break but are now four points off the play-offs.

And he said: “It’s frustrating, of course it is, and the lads know they haven’t got the reward their efforts deserved.

“We’re talking about a defeat when we had enough of the game for it to have been much different.

“We’ve dominated the game and I’m gutted for the lads because yet again they’ve worked hard but have nothing to show for it.

“It was a game where we had to be patient, and we got deservedly got ahead with a great set piece from Callum Guy and a wonderful finish from Josh Kayode.

“From there we had a lot of the ball in good areas and they got back into it from a nothing situation really.

“I’m really disappointed with the second goal. We should have dealt with it better and that’s the same for the third goal. Letting a player like Piergianni be more aggressive than we are from the corner just isn’t good enough.”