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'Duracell Craig' seals win - Oldham 1 Posh 2
THE man with two Duracell batteries where his lungs should be poached another three points for promotion-chasing Posh.
THE man with two Duracell batteries where his lungs should be poached another three points for promotion-chasing Posh.Craig Mackail-Smith is a relentless runner who combines the pace of a sprinter with the stamina of a marathon runner. While others flag at the end of 90 gruelling minutes, the Posh top scorer surges on, much like a 100-1 shot in the Grand National.
Mackail-Smith has probably chased more lost causes than Mike Ashley this season, but his reward has been 24 goals rather than 24-carat failure.
The last two, a mis-hit and a tap-in, arrived at blustery Boundary Park, one of the bleakest outposts in League One, a place where the wind always blows and where the chill factor is as low as a room occupied by Benitez and Ferguson senior.
The wasteland around the ground resembles bandit country so it was perhaps appropriate that Mackail-Smith's 87th minute winner was an act of larceny. Posh were finishing the game on the back foot, with two key defenders off the pitch, when a comedy defensive disaster at the Oldham end ensured a five-point buffer to the chasing pack remained in place.
Full-back Neal Eardley and goalkeeper Shane Supple made a complete hash of an innocently bouncing ball leaving Mackail-Smith to walk the ball into an empty net. If it truly is a signpost for success to win when not playing well, Posh will probably go on and claim the title.
Posh were decent in little bursts, most notably before and after Mackail-Smith scuffed a shot home from eight yards after a Paul Coutts cross had rebounded to him off George Boyd's back in the 26th minute. Aaron Mclean had just dragged one shot wide after bursting through and Mackail-Smith went on to fluff a sitter with his head from a Dean Keates free-kick.
The opening stages of the second half were also dominated by the visitors, but Mackail-Smith missed another glorious opportunity from a Coutts corner and from then on, Posh laboured on an awful surface against determined yet limited opponents.
Thankfully Oldham had an entire forward line unavailable through injury and they lacked the punch to unduly trouble Charlie Lee and Gaby Zakuani, but they would have turned the game completely on its head before the interval if referee Graham Salisbury had been less eagle-eyed.
The home side equalised on 42 minutes when Chris Taylor headed home Eardley's free-kick and they thought they had taken the lead 60 seconds later when Lewis Alessandra slotted past Joe Lewis, but Salisbury had spotted a tug by the scorer on Tommy Williams.
Posh had also escaped in the early stages when Dean Keates came to the rescue after Lewis had somehow managed to punch the ball backwards at a corner and again in the 82nd minute when Taylor side-footed a glorious opportunity straight at the keeper.
Lewis handled that one okay and surpassed himself deep into injury time when clinging on to a fiercely struck free-kick from Eardley.
It all had Joe Royle cursing his luck as much as the officials, although the Oldham boss was man enough to laud the efficiency of the Posh side and cast an envious eye on Darren Ferguson's strike force.
Not that man of the moment Mackail-Smith is in danger of getting carried away. He was as angry about missing chances as he was happy about scoring twice, but he is being too hard on himself as his attitude and work ethic earns him the luxury of a miss or two.
That approach is rubbing off on his team-mates who have now amassed a magnificent seven wins in a row at the most crucial time of the promotion race.
Of course Posh aren't home yet. To use Aintree parlance on Grand National weekend, they are in front at the Elbow – the finishing line is in sight, but much can happen on a punishing run-in.
Match facts and the ratings on next pageMatch facts
OLDHAM 1
Taylor (42 mins)
POSH 2
Mackail-Smith (25 mins & 87 mins).
REFEREE: Graham Salisbury 5.
ATTENDANCE: 5,083 (977 Posh).
OLDHAM RATINGS
Shane Supple: 6
Neal Eardley: 6
Daniel Jones: 6
Reuben Hazell: 6
Sean Gregan: 8
Mark Allott: 7
Kevin Maher: 7
Ian Westlake: 6
Danny Whitaker: 6
Chris Taylor: 7
Lewis Alessandra: 6
Subs
Matt Wolfenden: (for Alessandra, 69 mins)
Kieran Lee: (not used).
Paul Black: (not used).
Stefan Stam: (not used).
Greg Fleming: (not used).
Yellow cards:
Posh – Batt (foul).
The ratings
Joe Lewis 6
Excellent handling of fierce last-gasp free-kick, terrible punch almost cost early goal
Russell Martin 7
Barely put a foot wrong all game, very strong defensively
Tommy Williams 6
Conceded a needless free-kick which led to Oldham goal, injured near end
Gaby Zakuani 7
Threw himself into blocks and bravely played on with injury for 30 minutes
Charlie Lee 7
Not the collossus of recent weeks, but solid enough in difficult conditions
Paul Coutts 7
Another unhurried display of passing and some excellent corners
Chris Whelpdale 6
Looks full of confidence, although not at his best here
Dean Keates 6
Crunched into his tackles, protected back four well
George Boyd 5
Nothing much came off for him
Aaron Mclean 7
A handful who won the praise of the opposition manager
Craig Mackail-Smith 8 (Star man)
Scored two, missed two, but another immense effort
Substitutes
Shaun Batt: (for Whelpdale, 63 mins).
Chris Westwood: (for Zakuani, 82 mins).
Shane Blackett: (for Williams, 84 mins).
Sergio Torres: (not used)
James McKeown: (not used).
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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