Crewe Alexandra's problem over the last few weeks had been scoring goals, but today at Boundary Park we had netted twice inside the first 25 minutes thanks to goals from the on-loan Lee Barnard and youngster Byron Moore, who will always remember his first goal at senior level. That left an Oldham side, who had finally kicked started their own season with an emphatic 3-0 win at Walsall last weekend, pretty shell-shocked but John Sheridan's side railed and pulled one back before the interval thanks to Mark Allott.

That meant a tense 45 minutes for the Alex and although for the majority of the second half we defended resolutely, we couldn't prevent Oldham from staging a dramatic comeback. Fair dos to them they fought gallantly to obtain all three points, with John Sheridan's substitutes Matt Wolfenden and Neil Kilkenny scoring the decisive goals in the final 10 minutes of the game. It left Crewe still searching for our first away win of the season.

Nigerian George Abbey was the rather unfortunate one to drop out of the starting eleven this afternoon. Although vice captain Julien Baudet had failed to recover from a tight calf, his defensive team-mate Daniel O'Donnell had shaken off his tight hamstring and was selected to partner this afternoon's captain Chris McCready in the heart of the Crewe defence.

Abbey, who was virtually faultless on his club debut in last weekend's goalless draw with Millwall was named on the substitutes bench alongside Neil Cox, the fit-again Michael O'Connor, the recalled Tom Pope and reserve goalkeeper Owain fon Williams.

Crewe forced a corner in the opening minute of the match after a fine through ball from Gary Roberts found the intelligent run of Ryan Lowe down the Oldham right hand side. Lowe tried to find Lee Barnard inside a crowded penalty area, but Latics captain Sean Gregan put it behind for the corner. JP Kalala cleared Billy Jones' deep delivery without too much fuss.

Following a probing run from winger Chris Taylor, Kalala then drew the first save of the afternoon from Ben Williams. Danny Woodards had done exceeding well to prevent Taylor from having a shot, but his poor clearance went straight to Kalala on the edge of our box. The former Yeovil Town midfielder tried to catch out Williams with an ambitious curling shot but the Alex number one was hardly flustered.

After six minutes, Crewe were then forced to defend a dangerous looking free-kick some 25 yards from our goal after McCready had been penalised for a trip on Michael Ricketts. The powerful striker touched it off to full-back Neil Eardley but he sliced his shot horribly wide of the target.

After 16 minutes, Crewe took the lead after the courageous Lee Barnard was rewarded for chasing down a lost cause. Ryan Lowe was the provider, trying to slip Barnard ahead of Reuben Hazzell and in fairness the pass was a little over-hit, which made Latics goalkeeper Mark Crossley the favourite to reach it - but his clearance struck the onrushing Barnard and deflected into the empty net.

It was a rather fortuitous way for Crewe to grab the advantage, but Barnard deserved the plaudits for his willingness to put the vastly experienced goalkeeper under severe pressure with his kicking.It was Barnard's second goal of his loan spell with the Alex.

Barnard was then a little fortunate to avoid finding himself in the referee's book. He was involved in a short spat with Gregan that was nothing more than handbags at ten paces and moments later he was penalised for a trip on winger Andy Liddell.

Ten minutes after taking the lead, Crewe then doubled their advantage with a fine piece of play from midfielder Steven Schumacher. He picked out Byron Moore inside the Oldham box and the confident youngster kept his composure to lash home his first career goal. His powerful shot gave Crossley absolutely no chance and Crewe had the comfort of a 2-0 lead away from home.

In an attempt to get themselves back into the game, Oldham went close twice in succession. Firstly Michael Ricketts acrobatically fired over the top of the bar after he had muscled himself some space inside the Crewe penalty area. The busy Kalala was then a little closer with a firm header from Liddell's cross, but again he failed to force Ben Williams into a save.

The home side were certainly applying the pressure in search of a lifeline and they finally got one back on 35 minutes. Ricketts did superbly nodding possession back into the path of the onrushing midfielder Mark Allott and he kept his shot down and under control to defeat Williams. It was game on again, with Crewe now been asked to defend their penalty box a whole lot more. The goal also woke the Oldham crowd up as they sensed a comeback before half-time. Crewe had to dig in and weather the storm.

Kalala had a goal bound effort blocked by Chris McCready and Ben Williams was called upon to save smartly at the feet of Welshman Craig Davies, but we managed to get to the interval with our lead intact.

Four minutes into the second half it was Crewe on the attack with Schumacher finding Barnard in space just outside of the Oldham penalty area and on this occasion the on-loan Spurs youngster drew a fine save from Crossley. The former Welsh International goalkeeper pushed it away for a corner.

Oldham were soon on the offensive though with the physical menace of Ricketts and Davies always something to contend with, but O'Donnell and McCready continued to get their heads to those crosses coming into our box from Liddell and Taylor. McCready was excellent again, retreating and blocking a shot from Davies. Moments later Taylor tried his luck with a curling shot but it sailed away pretty harmlessly past Ben Williams' left hand post. The next goal was going to be the crucial one because Oldham had increased the tempo ever since Allott's goal and still felt they could get something from the game.

Not that Crewe were trailing too much in the creative stakes, with Ryan Lowe twice nearly connecting to Moore crosses. The Alex striker will have been disappointed not to have applied a firmer touch to the first one, because he had been gifted enough space to take the chance.

Then moments later, full-back Billy Jones fizzed a wonderfully struck free-kick just past Crossley's post. If it had been on target the power may well have deceived the Oldham keeper. He had been awfully close to his first goal for Crewe.

With just over 20 minutes remaining, the Oldham boss made a change with Neil Kilkenny replacing the home side's goalscorer Allott.

Barnard nearly smacked home his second goal of the afternoon after the Oldham defence had granted him far too much space some 25 yards from goal. Barnard didn't need too much of an invitation to strike it and Crossley did exceedingly well to tip it over the bar. At this stage, Crewe appeared the more likely to score the next goal.

Saying that Davies rather wastefully fired over the top after a rebound had fell invitingly into his path and he was rather lucky to remain on, as Sheridan elected to take off Ricketts for Matty Wolfenden instead. It was a substitution though that would pay dividends.

As the game entered the final stages, it went rather flat for the home side. There was not too much noise coming from the home side as a resolute Crewe defence continued to repel their attacks.

Clearly becoming frustrated to make inroads behind the Alex back line, Gregan took it into his own hands, trying his luck from distance but Williams was equal to it.

Then with Crewe looking fairly comfortable at the back, their super sub Wolfenden popped up with an equalising goal. Taylor provided a super cross for the lively forward and his glancing header seemed to go in off the post. Williams may have got a hand onto it but couldn't keep it out. In frustration he thumped the ball into the ground because Crewe had let a two-goal advantage slip away.

Schumacher nearly stole the points though with five minutes to go, after Barnard again forced Crossley into an error. The keeper cleared straight to the Alex midfielder and with his goal empty, he did everything right expect get it on target. The ball trickled just wide of the post much to the relief of Crossley and to the frustration of the Alex contingent behind that goal. We had been inches away from grabbing our first away win of the season.

Just when you thought it couldn't get too much worse for the Alex, Oldham snatched it in the final minute. Davies ran onto a through ball and did well to retain possession whilst waiting for support and when that duly arrived from another of the Oldham's subs Kilkenny, he calmly slotted past Williams and into the bottom corner to steal the points. The Alex players could hardly believe what had happened. From leading and looking comfortable, we were down and beaten. Unbelievable.

Crewe: Williams, Woodards, Jones (Pope), O'Donnell, McCready, Schumacher, Rix, Roberts, Moore, Lowe (O'Connor), Barnard

Oldham: Crossley, Eardley, Hazzell, Gregan, Bertrand, Liddell, Kalala, Allott (Kilkenny), Taylor, Davies Ricketts (Wolfenden)