Report By Matty Hurst
Southport are held by the ten men of Oldham in a thrilling friendly which had a touch of everything for the large numbers of supporters in attendance.
Oldham dictated the early stages of play with Nuttall coming close after a sharp turn on the edge of the box gave him space to aim towards the top left corner but the striker saw his effort deflect off the top of the woodwork and out for goal kick.
Southport worked their way into the half however with some chances by Walton and Morgan respectively however the closest Port came to an opening was through Jack Doyle and two set pieces both finding Flowers who troubled the defence but just couldn’t find that clinical touch in front of goal
The half ended goalless after a solid defensive showing who offered little opening to the frustrated Oldham attackers. The frustration continued into the second half as after roughly 15 minutes of few chances at either end Oldham forward Joe Nuttall was sent off as he appeared to have slapped Hmami in the face with the ball out of play.
After going down to 10 men the visitors looked dangerous on the counter and they found the goal the game had been lacking after former Southport man Devarn Green was played in behind the defence and calmly slotted the ball into the corner.
The game went seemingly stale after the goal until the 84th minute when a Finlay Heath cross found Evans at the back post whose header looked destined for the top corner but the keeper got a fingertip to the ball pushing it onto the bar and back out into the path of Anson who had an open goal to poke home levelling the game.
The game ended level despite the home sides best efforts to take the lead towards the end.
The attention now turns to Tuesday night where Southport host Morecambe at the Big Help Stadium
Line-ups: Isherwood, Sass, Doyle, Flowers©, Quansah, Thomson, Bainbridge, Morgan, Watson, Carver, Walton
Subs: McKerney, Anson, Evans, Abimola, C.Heath, Hmami, F.Heath, Billington
Attendance: 1478 (888)
Referee: Ben Wyatt