Oldham Athletic went 'toe-to-toe' with 'champions-elect' Chesterfield

The Latics led 2-0 through a James Norwood penalty and a strike from former Spireite Dan Gardner but Town levelled thanks to Bailey Hobson’s first goal for the club and a Joe Quigley penalty.

Both teams hit the crossbar in the second-half but the points were shared.

Chesterfield now only need one more point to officially secure the National League title and promotion to the EFL.

Mellon told the Oldham Times: "We went toe-to-toe with Chesterfield today, make no mistake about that. Nobody can leave this ground and say we didn't go toe-to-toe with them. We went every inch, all the way, and might have nicked it at the end.

"I'm disappointed, frustrated, but honestly to be able to stand here and say that against the champions elect... at some point over the next couple of days I'll think we gave it a good go.

"I think the difference is when you go 2-0 up and those wee moments come, you really have to do that bit better in those wee moments. You can't give away the goals that we gave away when you're 2-0 up or miss the chances that we missed if you're going to beat the best team in the league.

"But those wee moments aside, because you've got to look at the performance as a whole, I thought we were great. I thought we played really well.”

He added: "I thought it's more of the type of Oldham team that we all want to see. Now the great challenge for us is to continually try to do that.

“It's as frustrating for me when I stand at the side and I see us playing like that, and other times we can't be consistent at times. But we know what we're capable of."