Wilder unhappy as late goal denies Oxford United victory (From The Oxford Times)
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Wilder unhappy as late goal denies Oxford United victory
9:30am Tuesday 10th April 2012 in Sport
By David Pritchard, Chief Sports Reporter covering Oxford United. Follow us on twitter: @oxfordmailoufc. Call me on 01865 425458
Damian Batt, Andy Whing and Asa Hall cannot believe it as goalkeeper Ryan Clarke is unable to keep out Taiwo Atieno’s last-minute effort as Torquay snatched a 2-2 draw yesterday
CHRIS Wilder bemoaned Oxford United’s inability to kill games off as they drew 2-2 at home to Torquay United yesterday.
For the second game in a row the U’s were hit with a late goal, as goalkeeper Ryan Clarke – struggling with a rib injury – could only palm Taiwo Atieno’s shot into the net to give the ten-man visitors a share of the spoils.
A draw was scant consolation for the home side, who played exhilarating football for much of the second half.
Adam Chapman and Cristian Montano scored in quick succession to turn a half-time deficit into a 2-1 lead, but a lack of killer instinct to finish the game off was crucial.
United’s boss said: “That’s how it is if you don’t put teams to bed, because that should have been 5-1.
“Fair play to Torquay, they showed a bit of resilience at the end, but that really should’ve been out of sight going into the last ten minutes.”
There were a few boos from the home fans at the final whistle, but although United have picked up just a single point from the last three games, they remain in the npower League Two play-off positions.
Wilder felt the performance showed there was plenty to be optimistic about heading into the last four games.
He said: “You’ll always get moans and groans, but I can’t really do anything when a back pass goes short and then the keeper chucks one in.
“All we can do is try to encourage the players. I thought they were magnificent in the second half. Some of the play was absolutely outstanding.”
Wilder will hope Clarke has recovered from his injury for Saturday’s crunch home clash with Gillingham.
But there were no fitness concerns over a below-par James Constable, who was replaced at half-time by Scott Rendell for purely tactical reasons.
Wilder said: “I thought Scotty gave us a massive lift.
“I made a change because I didn’t think he (Constable) gave us anything in the first half, Scott gave us everything else.”
Comments(14)
BigYellowScarf
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11:19am Tue 10 Apr 12
northampton yellow
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11:54am Tue 10 Apr 12
northampton yellow
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11:54am Tue 10 Apr 12
Taffy Duck
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2:12pm Tue 10 Apr 12
mandate
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1:58am Wed 11 Apr 12
northampton yellow
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10:29am Wed 11 Apr 12
london_yellow
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12:40pm Wed 11 Apr 12
northampton yellow wrote:I think CW likes what Morgan can potentially deliver. He's clearly a talented footballer who brings something different to the squad. That said I think we’re all seeing and feeling what many other clubs and managers have felt… frustration. He’s reminiscent of a lower league/poor man’s Balotelli, plays for himself first and foremost. If he’s having a good game and things are going well he’ll be a great influence on the game if it’s not going his way he’ll be a destructive force. His first reaction when he gets the ball is to get his money’s worth, have multiple and often unnecessary touches before releasing it, this slows the game down and really hurt us against Torquay, especially in the first half where our tempo was flat. If he loses the ball through fault of his own he immediately looks to blame a team-mate when we’d all like to see him immediately look to win the ball back and right his wrong. If we were to gain Morgan at the expense of Beano it would be a heinous crime against the club and football (not that I think Wilder would entertain this for the slightest second). Morgan, for me, is not a player we would want to hold on to, bags of potential but will let you down far more than he’ll deliver. .
cw keeps on picking morgan coz he likes the player cw will sign him in summer and get rid of jc
Adman
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1:26pm Wed 11 Apr 12
northampton yellow
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1:52pm Wed 11 Apr 12
CamView
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5:50pm Wed 11 Apr 12
CamView
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5:50pm Wed 11 Apr 12
Mac27
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7:18pm Wed 11 Apr 12
CamView wrote:deffo agree pittman is are best striker makes things happen i pray he starts saterday much better player than morgan! i hope him and rendall start saterday, cant wait
I wonder why noone is talking about Pittman. He is a talented striker and can turn a game. He was first class at Aldershot having a hand in all three goals. His other games were above average and may I suggest better than anything Morgan has offered. Is thier player Wilder does not like - as with Mat Green (27 goals this season or Jack Midson). We cannot afford to overlook players who can make a difference. One point from three games is not good enough. Mat Green was left out in the cold in the run up to the pay offs luckily he was brought back to score important goals.
COME ON U YELLOWS!
CamView
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12:25pm Thu 12 Apr 12
Joe1 says...
10:58am Tue 10 Apr 12
It is up to you to make sure that we can do all we need to win these games. There must be something very wrong in how you prepare & which players you use where on the pitch. Really devastating result.
This leaves Crew breathing down with only goal difference keeping us in playoff's. It will be right up to the wire.
"COME ON YOU YELLOWS"