FA Cup Fourth round/ Oldham 0 Bolton Wanderers 1: Brian Talbot has an abundance of FA Cup memories to cherish but this was a day that will linger in his mind for all the wrong reasons. Dispatched from the FA Cup by superior opponents, the Oldham manager could also reflect that he nearly did not make it to the match at all, having been ambushed in his car as he made his way to the stadium.
Travelling from his city-centre apartment in Manchester, Talbot's journey took him past a polling station on the A62 that had been set up for the Iraq election. A demonstration was taking place outside and, according to Oldham officials, the scene was "not far from a riot" when Talbot's Mercedes apparently clipped one of the protesters.
He is understood to have been dragged from the car and did well to escape anything worse than a ricked neck and bruises.
"I can't really say too much about it because it's a matter for the police," he said. "I'm fine physically, just a bit shaken."
Greater Manchester Police described the incident as a "minor disturbance".
After such a frightening experience Talbot must have wished his players could serve as a soothing influence. Instead Bolton swiftly emphasised the gulf in status between the two clubs, taking command early on and scoring in the ninth minute, a first senior goal for the Portuguese teenager Ricardo Vaz Te.
Oldham threatened sporadically thereafter and, if it is any consolation, deserve all the usual compliments that tend to accompany a lower-league side punching above their weight.
Yet any sympathy for the 14th-placed side in League One evaporated when Lee Croft callously embedded his studs in Nicky Hunt's right ankle. As Hunt's legs were strapped and he was taken to the Royal Oldham Hospital, where X-rays would reveal severe damage to the ligaments, the referee would not have over-reacted if he had brandished a red card in Croft's direction.
Inexplicably, however, he did not even deem it a free-kick. The sense of injustice was exacerbated three minutes before the final whistle when the PA announcer declared that Croft had won the man-of-the-match award. It can only be hoped that his champagne was corked.
Guardian Service
