THE SPOTLIGHT might have been on Pawel Abbott as he proved his return to full fitness.

But it was a John McAliskey goal that earned Town a deserved draw in this Pontin's League Division I Central table-top clash.

McAliskey pounced in the 15th minute after latching onto a mistake by Chris Lever to fire a powerful right-foot shot into the bottom left-hand corner.

The goal cancelled out an early home opener by Matty Barlow, who had scored twice against Town in the clash between these two at the Galpharm a fortnight ago, when the Latics won 2-0 to go top.

Town started brightly at Boundary Park, with Michael Collins pulling the strings in midfield.

But the home side went ahead against the run of play on eight minutes after defender John McCombe conceded a penalty.

The ball was whipped in from the right by Mike Pearson, McCombe mistimed his jump and it fell invitingly to Matty Wolfenden.

He was about to shoot when McCombe's desperate lunge left the referee with no choice but to point to the spot, from where Barlow netted.

But after equalising, Town went on to boss the match, with Collins excelling in midfield, Tom Clarke looking assured at right-back and McAliskey sharp up front.

Good interplay between McAliskey and Clarke led to Abbott having a shot blocked on 28 minutes.

Then, on the stroke of half-time, Abbott had a left-foot drive parried.

In the second half, Town controlled possession for long periods without creating any clear-cut openings.

Lucas Akins, who replaced McCombe at half-time, injected more pace into the attack and he fired a left-foot shot into the side-netting on 55 minutes.

Minutes later, another promising Town youngster, David Walls, delivered a teasing cross to the back post which the onrushing McAliskey just failed to connect with.

Despite Town's dominance, it was Oldham who created the closest to a winner in the 74th minute.

The ball was headed into the box by the impressive Chris Baguley and Barlow, with no Town player in sight, chested it down well but blazed his shot over the bar.

The nearest Town came was 10 minutes from time when a Joe Skarz corner was flicked on by McAliskey but hacked away.

Town: Rachubka, Clarke, Hardy, McCombe (Akins, HT), Walls, Young, Ahmed, Collins, Skarz, Abbott, McAliskey. Subs not used: Biddle, Eastwood, Hallam, Bailey.