Oldham Athletic v Harrogate Town

STEVE COLLIS ON PREPARING FOR PENALTIES
The goalkeeper coach
tells the story behind
Latics’ two successful
shoot-outs in the
opening weeks of the
campaign…
A
s Boundary Park
prepared itself for a
second penalty shootout
of the season in the recent
Carabao Cup tie against
Accrington, one man was
perhaps more confident of the
outcome than most.
Having plotted Latics’ progress
past Tranmere on spot-kicks
in the previous round, Steve
Collis was about to witness
his successful penalty formula
come to fruition once again.
Out on the pitch the
goalkeeper may have changed,
but happily for Oldham the
outcome remained the same.
Just as Danny Rogers had
done a fortnight earlier, Laurie
Walker prevailed by saving
two penalties to ensure Latics
went through, setting up a
Third Round tie against Premier
League opposition in Brentford.
Walker, on an emergency
loan from MK Dons due to
the neck injury sustained by
Rogers, was lauded as the
hero, just as his fellow ‘keeper
had been in the earlier round,
but the shoot-out success
owed much to Collis’ work
behind the scenes.
It was in his post-match
interview following the tie
against Tranmere that Rogers
first offered an insight into
Latics’ preparations for spotkicks,
crediting Collis with the
work done ahead of the fixture
to ensure the goalkeeper was
ready for the eventuality of
penalties.
Shoot-outs are traditionally
seen as a lottery but, like
anything now in football, the
level of work involved means
it is more of an art form which
players must try to master.
“Goalkeepers will practice
penalties with the rest of
the squad but it’s the work
we do together that gives
us the detail that can make
the difference in a shootout,”
says Collis, who joined
Latics as goalkeeper coach
in the summer after a year at
Carlisle.
“I like to work with the ‘keepers
to give them little bits of
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