ON the eve of this survival six-pointer there was the prospect of a new dawn and new direction for Oldham Athletic.

Oldham-born and lifelong Latics fan Chris Lees emerged as the front man of a consortium seeking talks with Latics owner Abdallah Lemsagam about a club takeover.

Bitcoin became the buzz word at Boundary Park, after Lees spoke to The Oldham Times and revealed he wanted to make Latics the first Football League club to adopt ‘the Bitcoin Standard’ - operating with a decentralised digital currency.

It is an ambitious plan. A vision.

But for now there are more pressing matters for Oldham Athletic, namely staying in the Football League.

Saturday presented a chance to climb out of of the relegation zone and trade places with their opponents, Carlisle United, again, having done twice in the previous fortnight.

But in the end they stayed put, as their unbeaten run was ended in the eighth game under John Sheridan by Morgan Feeney’s stoppage time winner, making it three wins on the spin since Paul Simpson returned to the Brunton Park hotseat less than a fortnight ago to have a similar galvanising effect as his Latics counterpart.

It was always going to be a monumental task for Oldham to keep that level of momentum going for a prolonged period. There were going to bumps in the road. But they would have preferred for them not to be encountered in this crunch clash with Carlisle.

To compound matters Oldham were the only team in the bottom seven to experience defeat as Barrow drew at home to Walsall, while honours were even in the game between Leyton Orient and Stevenage, and Colchester United earned a 1-0 win at home to Port Vale.

But while this team has shown character in abundance to put themselves in with a fighting chance of staying up, shrinking a seven-point gap to safety to just two points with 13 games to go, there is a growing concern that they cannot press home their advantage when they get one.

They led at Colchester and Crawley but were held to a draw in both games.

Here, Davis Keillor-Dunn had a 25th minute spot kick saved, and Dylan Bahamboula missed the rebound, after Sheridan’s side made a bright start to the game against his old club. But Latics recovered well from the disappointment of Mark Howard denying their top scorer to go in front on the stroke of half-time. Jon Mellish had headed a cross against his own post and Jordan Clarke’s follow-up shot was turned in by Hallam Hope, against his old club.

Carlisle came out for the second half fighting while Latics were a little lackadaisical in possession, and it cost them as the visitors equalised three minutes after the restart. Possession was gifted inside their own half, and after receiving Kristian Dennis’ throughball Patrick Omari finished well for his sixth goal in 12 games.

Latics struggled to get going again after that. They were running on empty, and players who had previously offered an outlet were running out of ideas.

Bahamboula had increasingly become a thorn in the side of the opposition under Sheridan but looked rusty having missed the last three games through suspension.

He tried the tricks and flicks but canny Carlisle were not to be bamboozled by Bahamboula. And the Congo international summed up his off day when, after Carlisle had equalised, he took a shot with his left foot only to see it bounce off his right boot. It was one of those days. The rest looked jaded by travelling more than 1,000 miles, the impact of the transfer embargo and 23-man limit seems to really be taking its toll.

But it might also be time for Sheridan to put a bit more faith in the club’s youth.

For understandable reasons the head coach has put the emphasis on experience to get them out of the mire, and it is a formula that had worked until Saturday, when Carlisle took advantage of tired legs in the home camp to snatch a late, late win with Feeney’s header.

Against the Cumbrians, they lacked a freshness that the likes of Harry Vaughan and Benny Couto could provide. The talented teens play without fear too, so this relegation battle will not faze them, if that was the worry.

If anything, Latics need them. They would inject energy and enthusiasm into this side when they need it most.

Those decisions will form part of the challenge in helping Latics to bounce back from Sheridan’s first defeat of this spell in charge.

Few would have backed them, even with the Shez effect, to go seven games without defeat. There is no reason why they cannot put another run together. Sheridan has reignited this side once. Between now and Saturday’s trip to another of his former clubs, Swindon Town, he must refuel them.