Frankie Bunn praises Oldham’s fighting spirit after Cambridge comeback win

Posted Sunday, November 18, 2018 by PA

Manager Frankie Bunn praised Oldham’s fighting spirit after they hit back for a 3-1 victory over Cambridge.

After surviving a scare at Hampton and Richmond in the FA Cup first round on Monday, it was the second time in a week that the Latics had come from behind to snatch a win.

Cambridge took a seventh-minute lead when George Maris scored superbly from 25 yards, but Oldham eventually levelled through George Edmundson’s 61st-minute header.

They went in front in bizarre circumstances as Cambridge keeper David Forde miscued a clearance to Jordan Lyden, who rolled his shot into the empty net from almost on the halfway line.

Callum Lang completed the turnaround 10 minutes from time with an explosive finish for his fifth goal of the season.

Bunn said: “We didn’t offer much going forward in the first half and I thought we were poor, but the second half was completely different.

“There were strong words at half-time and I shouldn’t need to do that too often, but the players really responded and showed tremendous spirit.

“We were more direct, much more powerful and we took the game by the scruff of the neck.

“That’s everything we want from the first whistle and it’s how we should be starting every game, but the togetherness of the squad can’t be questioned.

“We had a lot more quality and the second goal showed that because it was great awareness from Jordan Lyden to score from where he did.

“The spirit and character of the second half are what we are all about. We need to find that more consistently and I’m hoping this result will be the one that really kicks us on.”

Cambridge manager Joe Dunne said: “Oldham got the momentum in the second half and it proved hard for us to get the ball to our front two.

“They injected a lot of pressure into the game and it’s disappointing that we weren’t able to cope with it. The goals we conceded were very frustrating.

“In the first half we were really good and controlled the rhythm. George Maris scored a great goal and was then clean through a few minutes later, so another goal at that time and it could have been all over.

“I think a second for us would have killed it, but we couldn’t keep it going in the second half to keep them under pressure.

“Too many of the basics weren’t done properly and when we needed to dig in, we didn’t make the right decisions.

“At 1-1 we were still in the game, but their second goal was calamitous and our second-half performance wasn’t good enough.”