KEITH Curle feels that Oldham Athletic gave a good account of themselves against Premier League opposition, as Boundary Park re-opened its doors to fans for the first time in 511 days.

The crowd of 2,071, witnessed Latics suffer a 2-0 defeat against Burnley, as Jay Rodriguez and youngster Lewis Richardson scored two quickfire goals.

But there was plenty to be pleased about with the performance, most notably in a goalless first half in which Curle’s men had chances to take the lead.

James Tarkowski, who launched his career with Latics, was kept busy on his return to his former club as Latics started brightly.

The England international blocked an early effort from Davis Keillor-Dunn, who then missed a better chance after being put through on goal by Dylan Bahamboula.

Bahamboula, who Latics fans were seeing for the first time in the flesh, skipped past a challenge on an assertive run before releasing Keillor-Dunn, who will have been disappointed not to hit the target, albeit from a narrowed angle.

Hallam Hope would have been kicking himself too that he didn’t at least test Burnley goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell.

But being able to create those chances against a strong Clarets line-up shows that the hard work going in behind the scenes is paying off.

The Oldham Times: Hallam Hope holds off James TarkowskiHallam Hope holds off James Tarkowski

The manner of the goals, scored in two second half minutes, will be a source of frustration - the first for Rodriguez from close range after a corner, and then Richardson had a relatively simple finish after the initial shot was saved by Latics’ trialing keeper.

Both could have been dealt with. But both sides had made half-time changes and the introduction of Dwight McNeil in particular for Burnley gave the visitors real impetus down the left and he proved a real handful.

Curle said: “It was very competitive, played at a good tempo.

“We are very grateful to Burnley for bringing the squad that they did, which shows the competitive edge that they’ve got as a football club.

“In the first half we gave a very good account.

“Two good teams in a very competitive game.

“Probably you would say on the balance of chances we had the better of them in the first half. Second half both teams made a lot of substitutions to give everyone within their squad game time and time, and it is important to do that.

“In the first half we set traps for them (Burnley) and I thought we caused them problems on the break.

“We had two or three chances.”