Richie Wellens felt Swindon deserved more than a point

Posted Sunday, April 14, 2019 by PA

Richie Wellens felt his Swindon side missed out after only collecting a point in a 2-2 Sky Bet League Two draw at Oldham.

Johan Branger-Engone’s left-foot volley in the second half earned the hosts a share of the spoils at Boundary Park.

That equaliser arrived 10 minutes after Swindon’s Kyle Bennett had hammered in a right-footed drive for the visitors, who dominated for long spells.

Oldham opened the scoring early on when George Edmundson netted from close range after Peter Clarke’s header was saved.

Swindon recovered and levelled on the stroke of half-time through a Michael Doughty penalty, after Edmundson was penalised for a shove on Theo Robinson.

Both sides went close to netting a winner, but the result left Wellens downcast.

“For 70 minutes, it was total domination from us on a shocker of a pitch,” said Wellens, after a result that leaves the Robins five points off the play-offs.

“We came out in the second half in the same manner as in the first and they just couldn’t deal with our system. We got the second goal and then the game became a bit easy for us. We started taking that extra little touch, slowing it down.

“All Oldham do is boot it long and hope for a second ball. They scored from our mistake and it was a killer blow.

“If we are ruthless here, we win the game easily.

“But I am sick of going in to see the opposition manager after the game and them saying we are the best team they have played – yet we have only drawn.

“Fair credit to Oldham. They dug in and they had to work hard.

“In the end, a point was no good for us and no good for them either.”

Oldham boss Pete Wild, denied a fourth straight victory, felt his side were not at their best.

“You can’t play like that for long periods of the game and expect to win football matches,” he said.

“We scored early again, but looked lethargic and slow, which is disappointing after such a good week.

“You saw a few tired bodies out there and that gives us something to think about going into the Easter period.

“Let’s talk about the penalty because I’ve seen it back. It never sniffed of a penalty. He has hit the deck so easily it’s ridiculous.

“We’re four unbeaten, so I can never fault the lads for their application and their desire to implement plans. They didn’t look their usual selves and that’s food for thought going into the Easter weekend.

“I wasn’t even looking at seventh place, so that doesn’t matter to me. I am just looking one game at a time and we will go into the Easter weekend and try to pick up some points and we will see where that takes us.”