Scunthorpe boss Paul Hurst hails ‘very good performance’ at Oldham

Posted Thursday, January 02, 2020 by PA

Paul Hurst was delighted to get back into winning ways after Scunthorpe’s comfortable 2-0 victory at Oldham.

Abo Eisa netted the opening goal with a well-struck curling effort from 25 yards out in the 35th minute.

Below-par Oldham improved after the interval but failed to truly test Iron goalkeeper Jake Eastwood.

John McAtee volleyed wide when well-placed for the visitors and it was not until the 83rd minute that Scunthorpe boss Hurst was able to breathe easily, when Matthew Lund found space at the far post to fire home from a corner.

“It was a very good performance given it was a third game in quick succession and a thoroughly deserved victory,” Hurst said, after the win ended a run of back-to-back defeats.

“We carried the greater threat and my only concern in all honesty was whether or not we were going to be punished for not getting that second goal.

“They are a big team and when you have the likes of David Wheater in there, who has scored a lot of goals in his career, you wonder if one of our chances we missed is going to cost us.

“Getting the ball out to Abo Eisa in the first half, he was a constant threat and scored an excellent goal.

“It was a difficult place for him to hit it from and I wasn’t overly enamoured with his decision to shoot, in truth.

“But it went right in the corner and he caught it well from where it was under his feet. It gave us a platform to build on.”

Oldham boss Dino Maamria said his patched-up side were defeated by opponents who performed the basics of the game the better.

“It was a really poor game of football to be fair, between two teams who looked tired,” said Maamria.

“We allowed Eisa too much space, but it was a terrific strike to be fair.

“They had been on a great run but after losing their last two games, they went back to basics and scrapped for first and second balls, winning headers and tackles.

“We have been on a great run with four wins, three draws and one loss. But here we lost what we have been doing well, which is competing and doing the basics well – all things I have been trying to instil in the team from the day I came in.

“We had tired legs and tired minds and we clearly ran out of legs by the end.

“We made changes at half-time to search for a spark. Mohamed Maouche has been carrying a hamstring injury and David Jones a calf problem and we had one or two tired bodies to carry through.”