OLDHAM Athletic boss Dino Maamria accused his side of “crumbling” in their 3-0 defeat at Crawley Town on Saturday.  

Ricardo German opened the scoring for Crawley in the 36th minute and Ashley Nadesan added a second before Bez Lubala sealed the comfortable victory. 

The result ensured the Reds stretched their unbeaten home run to nine games while Latics have not won away from home since Boxing Day.

Oldham’s unbeaten run of three matches also came to an end and Maamria was frustrated his side fell apart after conceding the first goal.

“In the first half we played some really good football,” Maamria said. “But when you’re trailing 1-0 it is always going to be difficult.

“We are a fair-weather team, when things are going well, we are very good but when things are not going well, we crumble and I’ve got to rectify that.

“It’s not the first time when we concede that first goal, we’ve got to ask questions of the characters of the players and of the team.

“We’re not there yet, we are where we are in the league for that reason.”

The Latics started brightly at the People’s Pension Stadium and almost took the lead in the first minute when Danny Rowe cut in from the right and played in Jonny Smith, who shot just wide from a tight angle.

Oldham continued to press for an opener and Zak Dearnley’s first-time shot went just wide following a driving run from Gevaro Nepomuceno on the right wing.

Crawley’s first chance came against the run of play on 19 minutes when captain George Francomb whipped in a testing free-kick, which was met by a myriad of bodies and flashed over Zeus de la Paz’s crossbar.

Oldham continued to create chances and Dearnley was denied by a Glenn Morris double save, as the striker beat Crawley’s offside trap and found space six yard out but both attempts were straight at the keeper.

Nepomuceno, Rowe and Dearnley continued to look dangerous for the Latics but a counter-attack from the Reds put them in front on 36 minutes.

A long clearance found Nadesan, who held up the ball, turned and found strike partner German in acres of space.

The striker ran towards goal, cut inside and finished from eight yards with de la Paz managing to get a touch on the shot but the goalkeeper couldn’t turn it round the post.

Oldham continued to dominate possession early in the second half, pushing for an equaliser and Smith had a shot from the edge of the area flash just wide on 53 minutes.

Crawley began to play themselves back into the game after the break and the hosts doubled their lead in the 70th minute as substitute Tarryn Allarakhia burst down the right, drifted inside and played in Nadesan who chipped over de la Paz.

Crawley sealed the victory minutes later when Lubala was brought down in the box by Mohamed Sylla and he duly slotted home the resulting penalty.

After a bright start to the match and being prepared for Crawley’s style, Maamria was frustrated not to capitalise early on. 

“In the first half we were very good,” Maamria added. “We should have scored three in the first 15 minutes and we didn’t do that.

“The biggest disappointment for me is that the scoreline, it’s quite heavy for us but we worked all week on knowing what Crawley’s strengths are.

“We highlighted strongly that they are good on the counter and we conceded three goals on the counter.

“We knew they were very good at home – they haven’t lost since November – and we know their front four are strong.

“I’m disappointed because we’ve done the work and we knew what to expect from them.”

Crawley Town (4-4-2): Glenn Morris, Josh Dacres-Cogley, Jordan Tunnicliffe, Jamie Sendles-White, Josh Doherty, Nathan Ferguson (Jack Powell), George Francomb, David Sesay (Panutche Camara), Bez Lubala, Ashley Nadesan, Ricardo German (Tarryn Allarakhia)

Substitutes: Tom McGill, Joe McNerney, Manny Adebowale

Oldham Athletic (4-4-2): Zeus De La Paz 4, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson 5 (Johan Branger-Engone 5), Carl Piergianni 4, David Wheater 5 (Christian N’Guessan 5), Tom Hamer 4, Mohamed Sylla 4, Chris McCann 5, Gevaro Nepomuceno 7, Jonny Smith 5, Zak Dearnley 5 (Mohamed Maouche 5), Danny Rowe 6

Substitutes: Ellis Allen, Christopher Missilou, Dylan Fage, Desire Sebge Azankpo

Referee: Charles Breakspear

Attendance: 2,037