Oldham left Southend speechless with a pulsating comeback to exorcise their demons of the recent era and restore their place in the Football League.
How do you bottle up such ecstasy? The Latics looked down and out after 110 minutes of this scrappy, roistering, explosive affair. Then substitutes James Norwood and Kian Harratt turned history on its head. Wembley was deafening.
No fans have known mediocrity and stagnation better than Oldham’s. The Latics became the first former Premier League side to drop into non-league in 2022. This was their first play-off campaign since 2007 and only the fourth time they had finished in the top half of a division since then.
In 2021, fans carried a mock coffin in protest against then-owner Abdallah Lemsagam, with the club threatened by administration and struggling to pay salaries. Calling it bleak doesn’t do their pain justice.
Now, finally, they have redemption. Micky Mellon, their 19th manager in the last decade and the first to complete a full season in that time, has brought an offering no man before him could. Joy.
Star striker Mike Fondop, 31, was not even born the last time Oldham won a promotion back in 1991.
Oldham returned to the Football League with a remarkable 3-2 comeback win over Southend
Southend drew first blood after Manny Monthe scored an own goal under pressure from Charley Kendall
Joe Garner drew Oldham level early in the second half with a composed penalty
The build-up to this one was marred by frustration at an initial ticket allocation of just 40,000. After much lobbying, that restriction was relaxed and we saw a record National League attendance – 52,115 – with supporters journeying from as far as Australia.
It was hardly a pretty contest – there were plenty of scraps and long balls to speak of – but it was aptly raucous for two giants at this level who spent a combined consecutive 226 years in the EFL before their relegations. Seven years ago, this was a League One fixture.
Fans knew they were in for a rollercoaster after two minutes when Oldham’s Vimal Yoganathan danced past his man and pinned a cross at the far post, but Mark Kitching was just unable to reach it.
Southend drew first blood after five minutes when Manny Monthe saw calamity. The defender, so experienced on this stage, dinked the ball into his own net under pressure from Charley Kendall. Cue pandemonium from the Shrimpers, who had brought more than 150 coach loads and thousands more on the train.
Multiple chances went begging for the Latics in the first half. Yoganathan fluffed a header from point-blank range 18 minutes in.
Fondop, who initially moved here from Cameroon to study actuarial science, blew and blew but could not collapse the house. It is believed fans paid to fly out his father from his homeland.
The marksman missed two gilt-edged chances in the first period and was denied a penalty despite a rash challenge from Harry Taylor, who was otherwise unimpeachable.
Oldham perhaps began to feel it wasn’t their day when Fondop inexplicably chipped the ball wide after racing through one-on-one just before half-time. Fans erupted in cheers thinking it had gone in, only for their faces to turn pale. How had he missed?
Leon Parillon headed Southend into the lead at the start of extra-time to send the fans wild
James Norwood drew Oldham level for a second time to keep people on the edge of their seats
But Micky Mellon’s men were gifted a chance to get level just after the break when Ben Goodliffe dragged down Monthe in the box – and duly took it.
Joe Garner, once a Championship man, stepped up and stroked home from 12 yards, sending Nick Hayes the wrong way and charging over to celebrate with the euphoric Oldham masses.
In the latter stages the game remained attritional. Corry Evans was booked for a poorly timed slide on Macauley Bonne. Oldham skipper Charlie Raglan, a bullying fortress throughout the day, continued to command a stern defence.
Southend’s top-scoring right-back, Gus Scott-Morriss, struck a half-volley from 25 yards with minutes to go but it was straight down the throat of Mathew Hudson.
A minute into stoppage time, Oldham let out an almighty groan as Kitching flashed a low first-time effort just wide of the post. But nobody could find a winner after 99 minutes of struggle.
And so into extra-time it was, like the previous four non-league showpiece occasions. Of course, it had to go this way.
Then it was Parillon’s time to etch his name into Southend folklore – or so he thought. Hudson parried a cross from Scott-Morriss straight into his path and the substitute nutted in the most pressurised header of his life. Southend’s almost 30,000 disciples went delirious.
But the day wasn’t done. Oldham had other ideas. First, Norwood latched onto a long ball and rounded Hayes to finish. Then Harratt swung a speculative cross into the far post and nobody touched it. MIraculously, it went in. Oldham have redemption.
Kian Harratt’s cross somehow ended up in the back of the net and Oldham won the game
As for Southend, well, they much march on. To gratecrash the play-offs this season was a commendable effort. Less than 12 months ago, the Blues were threatened by liquidation after a nightmarish soap opera era of financial problems, points deductions, and a double relegation from League One.
Fans even considered setting up a phoenix club. Manager Kevin Maher, a club legend who won two promotions with them as a player, wanted to pack it all in. This season has given them hope.
