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Albion's Great Escape: Albion 3 Oldham 1	Posted by David Snowball at Sunday, April 19, 2009
By Nick Turrell Lloyd Owusu raised the non-existent Withdean roof with a gutsy two-goal contribution to keep Albion's Great Escape hopes alive. Playing in tandem with the buzzing Gary Hart, who rolled back the years with the sort of performance many had not thought they would see again, Owusu took the man-of-the-match honours for his goalscoring but the award could easily have been shared between the two. Owusu probably edged it for his assist for the opening goal - a neat cross to the far post for an unmarked Dean Cox to head home. The Withdean faithful responded positively to the level of on-pitch urgency that's all-too-often been missing this season and really got behind the team as they totally dominated Oldham in the first half and deservedly went in 2-0 ahead courtesy of a rather fortunate pinball experience when Owusu's misplaced header bounced fortuitously off Crossley and back to him to net. After witnessing the shocking collapse to Swindon at the start of the second half only seven days earlier, everyone was hoping the lesson had been learned. But amazingly it didn't seem to have been. Albion, forced to replace Elphick with El Abd, looked jittery beyond belief at the back and after some harum scarum moments in which Kuipers failed to inspire confidence and Dicker was forced to clear off the line, Oldham pulled one back when El Abd let a long punt sail straight over his head and allowed Alessandra to glide past him with ease and bury the ball in the back of the net. Fortunately, Oldham's defence was similarly generous almost immediately and Hart and Owusu combined to unlock the visitors defence a third time. Apart from the injury to Elphick, the other black mark of the day was the sending off of Andrew Whing for a second bookable offence, although it appeared a harsh decision from a fussy referee (Steve Cook) who at times lost the plot - as well as struggling to rummage for his cards - as the already-booked right back gently toe-poked the ball away following a free kick award against him. However, a welcome three points which were even more vital when news of results elsewhere came through. I believe Albion need one more win and a draw so long as Crewe and Carlisle continue to falter. Player ratings v Oldham Kuipers 6. One quality stop but very edgy and loads of unnecessary dramatics. Whing 7. Sending off spoilt his fine run of form which sees him likely to be named player of the season. Virgo 6. Can't fault his application but didn't inspire confidence. Eplhick 7. Played on bravely until half time despite receiving nasty thigh gash. Borrowdale 8. Played another solid, key role. Dicker 8. Probably best he's played; put himself about and tidied up effectively. Fraser 6. Usual contribution: energetic but erratic. Subbed. Loft 7. Best I've seen him play for Albion. A few misplaced passes but lots of energy and justified his selection. Cox 9. A box of tricks and sealed a lively display with opening goal. Hart 9. Wholehearted never-say-die performance; would have been top marks if he'd got on the scoresheet. Owusu 9. Top contribution from the experienced striker. Can't do much more if he's hoping to earn a contract for next season. His goals could keep us up. Subs El Abd 4. At fault for Oldham's goal and looked like his confidence is completely shot. Jarrett 7. Brought much-needed stability to central midfield as Fraser began to lose it. Andrew. Took over from the tiring Owusu with just a few minutes left. Labels: League One, Nick Turrell, Oldham