YORK City fell to a disappointing 2-0 defeat against managerless Oldham Athletic.

Neal Ardley had picked up his and the club’s first victory of the season on Saturday, after a comfortable 3-0 win over the nine-men of Southend United at the LNER Community Stadium.

But York’s hopes of a first away win of the season will have to wait until next Saturday’s tricky trip to Woking for the TNT sport match, after an underwhelming performance saw Oldham claim a crucial three points in the early stages of the season.

Oldham had parted ways with manager David Unsworth on Sunday after the Latics had struggled to match their pre-season expectations, occupying a relegation spot after managing just one win all season.

It seemed like a perfect opportunity for City to strike Oldham whilst they were down, but that wasn’t the case at Boundary Park, as defensive errors saw the Minstermen miss out on the chance to claim back-to-back wins.

Oldham had taken an early lead just seven minutes into the contest, after some nifty footwork from Devarn Green allowed Joe Nuttall the time and space to bend an effort past a helpless Ryan Whitley.

York struggled to create any clear cut chances in the first half, except efforts on goal from Maziar Kouhyar and Dan Batty, that were both dealt with by the Latics shot-stopper Matthew Hudson.

And with the Minstermen struggling to pose a real threat to the home side, substitute Alex Reid settled the three points when beating Tyler Cordner and hammering an effort past Whitley.

It’s a first win in charge for interim manager Steve Thompson for Oldham, whilst Ardley suffers his first defeat as York manager, something he won’t be happy with.

Ardley had named just one change to the starting eleven, as Alex Hurst was introduced for his first start of the league season in place of Kai Kennedy.

Callum Howe was a doubt leading up to kick-off after falling ill over the weekend, but recovered to be named on the York bench, although he didn’t get a chance to make an impact from the sidelines.

Oldham were the better side on the night, and showed their early danger with an early corner that Dipo Akinyemi dealt with before Ryan Whitley was forced into gathering a threatening cross.

Liam Kitching had the first strike of the night from the edge of the box, but his effort flew into the stand behind the goal to the relief of Whitley.

But Oldham didn’t have to wait long before breaking the deadlock, as Nuttall netted his second of the season with a composed finish within the box, finishing off Green’s pass by curling an effort into the far corner.

Lenell John-Lewis started his second match running after serving a three-match suspension, and had York’s first attempt of the night when heading into the gloves of Hudson from within the box.

City looked to break from an Oldham attack, but were dispossessed and forced to deal with a chance for former Minsterman Kurt Willoughby, whose goalbound shot was bravely blocked by Adam Crookes.

York did find some momentum, as Kouhyar and Batty both found possession from separate chances on the edge of the box, but Hudson was on hand to produce too comfortable saves to deny a first-half equaliser.

Hurst looked to have an impact on his first start with a low cross into the path of Saturday’s star Thierry Latty-Fairweather, but another important tackle from the hosts denied the left-back his second in two games.

Heading into the second half, York looked to show improvements as Batty had a venomous effort well held by Hudson, before Cordner nodded wide of the target from a corner.

Whitley showed his strengths by holding a Nathan Sheron strike, before Kouhyar came close to drawing the scores level again, nearly finishing off a fantastic run before striking narrowly wide.

Nuttall looked to grab a brace with a header at the back post, but the former Blackpool striker could only nod narrowly wide of Whitley’s goal.

Brennan Dickenson came close to nabbing Oldham their second when evading two challenges, before his strike ricocheted off of the York post.

But with the match nearing its conclusion, Oldham settled the tie with their second of the evening.

Reid produced some excellent hold up play to keep the City defence from poaching the ball from him, before turning and rifling an effort into the bottom corner to hand Oldham a crucial three points, with York now lurking in 21st position on seven points.

Oldham Athletic: Hudson, Sheron, Sutton, Hogan, Hobson, Kitching, Gardner, Green, Dickenson (Hope, 77), Nuttall, Willoughby (Reid, 68)

Subs: Norman, Shelton, Fondop

Goal: Nuttall (7)

Yellow cards: Nuttall (61), Kitching (63), Green (70)

York City: Whitley 6, Fallowfield 6, Cordner 6, Crookes 6, Latty-Fairweather 6, Kouhyar 6 (Castro 6, 73), Batty 7, Dyson 6, Hurst 6 (Siziba 6, 45), Akinyemi 6, John-Lewis 6 (Kennedy, 85)

Subs not used: Castro, McLaughlin, Howe, Kennedy, Siziba

Yellow cards: Crookes (70)

York’s star man: Dan Batty. A composed performance from the midfielder who had his efforts on goal and kept possession well.

Attendance: 6,611 (745)

Shots (on target): 2 (5) | 2 (5)

Corners: 5 | 1

Offsides: 0 | 0

Fouls committed: 9 | 10