Oldham Athletic 2-1 Bristol Rovers: player ratings, MOTM, winners & losers

Bristol Rovers’ play-off push took a blow as they fell to a 2-1 defeat to Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park.

The Gas were made to rue a slow start as Davis Keillor-Dunn’s brace inside the first half-hour was enough to give the Latics the win.

Sam Nicholson, who replaced Antony Evans in the first-half did find the net for Rovers but his strike wasn’t enough to inspire his side to a comeback.

Joey Barton’s men are now ten points off of seventh spot though they do have three games in hand over Newport County, who also suffered defeat this evening.

Below we look at who came away from the game with credit and also those who didn’t have the best of evenings.

The winners

Davis Keillor-Dunn: No recognised striker? No problem. It was a fine evening for Oldham’s top scorer who found the net for the first time in over a month.

For his first goal, he timed his run well enough to break through the defence and put himself into a good place to beat Anssi Jaakola.

Keillor-Dunn’s second showed his willingness to compete for the ball. The box was crowded but Carl Piergianni’s ball fell to the midfielder’s feet in a kind enough position to prod the ball home.

Aaron Collins: Credit to the Welshman as he was one of the bright sparks in the performance. He was originally meant to be the only striker but on a number of occasions found himself on the side of the box, trying to find a teammate and he did for Nicholson.

He’ll be relishing the return of Leon Clarke and Ryan Loft as he is best suited in being on the edge of the box and going for goal rather than having to drift out to the flanks or come deep to receive the ball.

FutMob gave him a rating of 7.6 and said he had a pass accuracy of 91% that showed he was good in the final third.

Nicky Adams: A good showing for Nicky Adams this evening who caused the away defence a whole number of problems. Inside the first minute he showed the desire to put his head in where he could get hurt, fortunately for him it paid off as it found Keillor-Dunn to score the opening goal.

He also could have had another assist but for the offside flag that denied Junior Luamba a second goal in as many games.

The 35-year-old was ranked as the second best performing player of the game, behind two-goal hero Keillor-Dunn.

The losers

Cian Harries: Centre-back Harries made a return to the side after not featuring in Rovers’ last four matches. He had been an unused substitute in the last two whilst he wasn’t part of the match day squad in the other two.

Dealt a blow ten minutes from kick-off, he was partnered with James Connolly, who he had yet to play with.

Throughout the match you could tell that they had a minimal understanding of one another. A change in the second-half pushed Harries to left-back with Paul Coutts taking his place with Connolly.

Nick Anderton: This wasn’t the best showing at left-back for Anderton as he endured a torrid time from Keillor-Dunn.

Early in the match, Anderton was indecisive to compete for a ball in the air and that allowed Dunn to move past him and score the first goal.

Then in the second-half, he was yellow carded for a wild swipe on the two-goal scorer in the middle of the park.

He was ranked the worst performing player in the squad by FutMob, who gave him a rating of 5.6, a whole 0.2 points off of nearest placed Luca Hoole.

It came as no surprise then that he was brought off just after the hour mark with Luke Thomas brought on in his place with an emphasis on attack.

Player ratings

Oldham Athletic (4-2-3-1): Daniel Rogers 6, Sam Hart 6, Carl Piergianni 7, Harrison McGahey 7,  Jordan Clarke 7, Callum Whelan 7, Christopher Missilou 6, Nicky Adams 7, Davis Keillor-Dunn 8, Dylan Bahamboula 7, Junior Luamba 6 (Alex Hunt, 82;6)

Bristol Rovers (4-2-3-1): Anssi Jaakkola 6, Luca Hoole 5, James Connolly 6, Cian Harries 6, Nick Anderton 5, Paul Coutts 6, Sam Finley 6, Harvey Saunders 6, Antony Evans 6, (Sam Nicholson, 23;7), Elliot Anderson 7, (Harry Anderson, 73;6), Aaron Collins 7.

Man of the Match

Two goal hero Davis Keillor-Dunn deserves the plaudits for his two goals in the first period. He was a nuisance for the two strokes and forced a few Rovers players into making a number of fouls on him.

What’s next?

It’s a chance to put it right on Saturday when they welcome Nigel Clough’s Mansfield Town to the Memorial Stadium.

For Oldham, John Sheridan makes the trip down down to South Wales to face his former club Newport County at Rodney Parade.