Football: Oldham run keeps Royle flushed

Oldham Athletic . . . . . 4

Jobson 44, Beckford 46, S McCarthy 52,

A McCarthy og 89

QPR. . . . . . . . . . . .1

Ferdinand 35

Attendance: 10,440

THE Premiership can now look forward to another season in Oldham's company with growing confidence. Beaten just once in eight League matches - 13 if their FA Cup run is taken into account - Joe Royle's high-spirited survivors are daring to dream of safety.

Nothing can ever be taken for granted, but Royle's target of 45 points is only eight away with eight fixtures remaining. Surely there will be no repeat this time of last season's desperate scramble, when only three successive wins in the final seven days kept them up. As Royle frequently says, there is rarely a dull moment at Boundary Park and yesterday's performance, while not quite as madcap as some, was not untypical. Oldham have never made a priority of defending but they attack with gusto and at times pushed seven or eight men forward more often than was prudent.

It paid off, too. Rangers, still entertaining a slender hope of claiming a Uefa Cup spot, took the lead through a 30-yard free-kick struck with extraordinary power by Les Ferdinand, but could not contain the vigour of Oldham's response. Ten minutes later - on the brink of half-time - Richard Jobson met Rick Holden's superbly flighted left-wing corner with a thunderous far-post header to put them level. Suitably charged with renewed confidence, the home side took control with two goals in the first seven minutes of the second period.

Darren Beckford gave them the lead, winning a tussle with Alan McCarthy before forcing the ball past Jan Stejskal from eight yards. With David Bardsley, Alan McDonald and the transferred Darren Peacock missing from his defence, it was the kind of moment which the manager, Gerry Francis, had dreaded.

Beckford glanced another fine Holden cross against an upright and Sean McCarthy headed home the rebound. His namesake then conceded an own goal in the last minute after Oldham's McCarthy had shot against the body of Stejskal only for the ball to run into the net off the legs of the unfortunate defender.

Richard Thompson, the Rangers chairman, did his dwindling popularity no favours by revealing on the radio at lunchtime that a bid of pounds 4m would almost certainly be enough for him to sell Ferdinand this summer, and the striker's 15th goal of the season was a cue for chants of 'Thompson out' to rise from the visitors' seats.