Oldham Athletic 3 Exeter City 3.
Tuesday 23 November 2010.

Referee David Coote

Attendance 3561 with 158 City fans.

We will remember this game next season for...

Well when the chips are down on the road and we find ourselves seemingly heading home pointless I'm sure thoughts will turn to 'the night at Boundary Park'.

Coming back from such a deficit with just 13 minutes to go could well provide the fans and players with a glimmer of hope when similar positions arise again. And whenever Daniel Nardiello prepares to come on excitement will begin to build.

Of course. There aren't many clubs in League One that would bring such numbers to a mid-week match 250 miles away, having been round the corner days earlier. Over 300 were at Huddersfield and more than 150 made it to at Oldham. It was a fantastic turnout given the hugely frustrating decision to put one of the longest trips of the season on a Tuesday night. And the fans were once again in fine voice as they were being wound up by the Oldham youngsters opposite. Needless to say the City faithful had the last laugh and the players certainly enjoyed celebrating in front of their adoring public.

A Player's Perspective: (Jamie Cureton)

"The manager said to keep going and believe, he didn't rant and rave. He told us to go back out there and show what we can do. The boys were saying that once I got my goal that we could sense it and we were going to get something. It just spread through the team and fair play to the boys, there aren't many teams that are 3-0 down at half-time and can come back. You just felt confident once we were on top. We went for them and you could sense it. They started to go quiet and as silly as it sounds, we could have won the game."

Rivals Rated 
Oldham's attack succeeded in the first half where Huddersfield's had failed. Their powerful and strong forward Oumare Tounkara, on loan from Sunderland, was a real handful for our centre-backs. And only when they began to smash long-balls towards him in the second half were his powers diminished.

Arguably one of Paul Dickov's fatal errors was the withdrawal of influential widemen Aidan White and Cedric Evina as the game wore on, presumably resting them with the game seemingly won. But on their first half display alone you'd have to say that Dickov's side will win more than they lose this season, City were almost washed away in the first 45 by a very impressive display.

Tis' Take:
"Three nil downaway from home and against a very good side and to bring it back to 3-3. "Four points from those tough games which should give us a bit of heart shouldn't it? "It had been a very long few days for us but this is a really good moment. Hopefully we can bottle that feeling now and take it into the next few weeks."

Moment Of The Match:

While the final exchanges were utter carnage, in my opinion Jamie Cureton's goal was the crucial one in the grand scheme. With just five minutes left it gave everyone involved with City that lift needed to push on for the finale and made everyone believe it was possible. While Logie's goal was seen as a consolation this made you think we couldn't could we?!

Talking Tactics:

Tisdale kept faith with the 11 men who defied Huddersfield for a gutsy three points on Saturday with the same formation. And that familiar line-up seemed to start in the same vein as they had at The Galpharm before the first goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of them. The City boss always talks about the difficult job of picking his bench and it was Tis' two substitutions that arguably earned his side a point. He changed tactics at half-time before introducing David Noble to sit at the base of the midfield and sending on Daniel Nardiello to the left of the three strikers to do his best road-runner impression at Oldham's young right- back. It was the inspirational Noble who dictated the tempo and kept things ticking overall allowing Harley to flourish and giving Sercombe a licence to push on down the right side. And Nardiello won a spot-kick, not for the first time this season, and of course the Welshman was in the right place to grab another late and vital goal.

And Finally...

No matter how many years you've watched football for, it always retains that ability to shock and surprise you.

by Pete Evans

BBC match summary and information 

Exeter came from three goals down at half-time to record a superb comeback and earn an away point at Oldham. The Grecians even missed a late penalty as Dean Brill saved Ryan Harley's spot-kick, before Daniel Nardiello scrambled in an incredible equaliser. Oldham had raced into commanding lead when Aidan White's solo run and shot, Oumare Tounkara's bullet header and Chris Taylor's drive made it 3-0. Exeter hit back through Richard Logan's rebound and Jamie Cureton's smart shot.

Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale told BBC Radio Devon: 

"We were 3-0 down away from home against a very good side and we bring it back to 3-3, we're just delighted.

"A really good moment for us and hopefully we can bottle a bit of that feeling now and take it into the next few weeks.

"It's easy when you go 3-0 down because you've got nothing to lose and you can free yourself up."