Paul Scholes disappointed as Oldham lose lead to draw at Cambridge

Posted Sunday, March 10, 2019 by PA

Paul Scholes spoke of his disappointment after Oldham let a first-half lead slip at Cambridge.

Jevani Brown scored immediately after the interval, converting when goalkeeper Dimi Mitov’s clearance ran all the way through to him to earn a point for the U’s, who had trailed through Harrison Dunk’s headed own goal.

The draw lifts Cambridge a further point away from the League Two relegation zone.

“I can’t explain the second-half performance. It was probably the worst half of football we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Oldham boss Scholes reflected afterwards.

“I thought it was OK in the first half, we controlled possession without really looking that threatening.

“There were a couple of chances but not much, and we scored a lucky goal. We looked lively, played some good stuff at times.

“In the second half we started really badly and didn’t really get any better. We never really looked like scoring.

“The players looked a little bit tired in the second half, which could be understandable as they’ve had a couple of hard weeks training.

“It was a disappointing second half but we have to get over that now.

“We’ve got a tough game on Tuesday against Lincoln which we know that, if we play anything like we did (in the) second half, we’ll struggle. We need a bit more life in us.”

Cambridge boss Colin Calderwood was rather happier with how his side performed after the U’s continued their impressive home form which has seen them lose just once in 11 home league games.

“It was a hard-earned point,” Calderwood said.

“Oldham played a really good level of football and we didn’t do as well as we’d want in the first half, but we got the break at the beginning of the second half to get the equaliser.

“That second-half performance is a good level.

“We’ve held our own through that first half; did we do too much wrong? Probably not, but we didn’t have that dominance that a home team would want, but that can happen when you come up against a team who also played really well.

“We remained in the game and we had a super start to the second half. We’ve worked a lot on that, passing it back to the keeper and him miskicking it through to the centre forward.

“We’re taking enough points at the minute to be quite proud of what we’re doing and I was really proud of them especially in the second half with the level of football.

“I was also proud because they were quite stubborn in the first half and I quite enjoyed watching that. We had to be good to get a draw today.”