OLDHAM ATHLETIC 1, PETERBOROUGH UNITED 5.
This was to prove Darren Kelly’s ninth and final game as Oldham Athletic manager as his sacking was announced little over one hour after the hefty home defeat by Peterborough United.
It was an afternoon that smacked of desperation even before kick off as Mike Jones, Jonathan Burn and Timothee Dieng all lost their places while top scorer Jonathan Forte began a three-match ban.
Into the side came Connor Brown, Carl Winchester, Rhys Murphy and new loan signing Simonas Stankevicius was handed his first start on his return from international duty.
But the changes backfired as Posh, who themselves had dismissed manager Dave Robertson last weekend, recorded only their second win of the season in Sky Bet League One.
Latics, with only one win in nine games with Kelly at the helm, trailed 2-0 at the break through goals from Lee Angol and Erhun Otzumer.
Murphy halved the deficit early in the second half to give Latics hope, but that was quickly snuffed out as Souleymane Coulibaly scored twice and Angol also found the net again to compound Latics’ misery with back-to-back home losses.
The afternoon of woe began when Posh took the lead after 14 minutes when Coulibaly provided the assist for Angol, completely free, to score from inside the six-yard box.
There was a positive response from Latics as David Dunn forced a good save from keeper Ben Alnwick while Mark Yeates fired over.
The visitors went 2-0 ahead late in the half when Otzumer was handed the freedom of the penalty area to fire home an Angol cross into the top corner of the net.
Latics made a stirring start to the second period as Winchester struck an upright before Murphy halved the deficit as he found the top corner with a strike from the edge of the box.
And they remained on top with Eoghan O’Connell and Stankevicius both having good chances.
But against the run of play, Posh restored their two-goal advantage just after the hour when Coulibaly struck again with a shot from the edge of the box.
Soon it was 4-1 as Coulibaly struck again heading home a cross at the far post.
Latics continued to create chances as Yeates’ 25-yard free kick was turned over the bar by Alnwick while substitute Dominic Poleon struck a post.
Posh were clinical, though, making it 5-1 with 12 minutes left when Angol converted a cross from Coulibaly.
Dunn forced a smart save from Alnwick and substitute Jones also went close, but they were never going to alter the outcome of the game.