Richie Wellens was delighted to see goalkeeper Josh Keeley get his “Jimmy Glass moment” as Leyton Orient dramatically beat National League Oldham in the FA Cup.
Keeley went forward for a free-kick in the ninth minute of stoppage time to head the equaliser.
Forward Dan Agyei repeated the feat beyond the end of the 120 minutes, having already missed a penalty in extra time, but still had to take second billing to Keeley.
“I think this will go down – not the game, but the moment in the game – will go down in (history),” Wellens said in a video posted on the club’s X account. “Remember when Carlisle scored in the last minute, when Jimmy Glass scored a goal to stay in the league?”
He added in his press conference: “Full credit to Josh because he deserves this. He has the character and the belief and I’m pleased for him and all the team.
“I watched the first 10 minutes upstairs as I wanted to see the shape of the team and we were really poor – but we were better second half and I still think we deserved to go through.”
Manny Monthe had put the visitors in front, glancing in Reagan Ogle’s long throw, but Wellens said: “I watched their goal and no-one touched it so it shouldn’t have stood, but it’s really difficult for the officials.
“I will say our effort at the other end where Sonny Perkins scored and was given offside should have stood as an Oldham player touched the ball. But I’d rather let their manager talk about the officials.”
Oldham manager Micky Mellon admitted: “Football can be a very cruel game. Look at the bits that we would be pleased about and there was plenty.
“We were every bit as good as the League One side and but for a lot of refereeing decisions things could have been a wee bit different.
“Our support was fantastic, the referee was crap and there were big moments that these referees have got to get right.
“I prefer to concentrate on the account my players gave of themselves. They gave everything they’ve got and they will be disappointed about losing in the last heartbeat of the game from what should have been a free-kick to us.”
