Micky Mellon impressed by two-goal Calum Kavanagh’s start to the season

Oldham manager Micky Mellon saluted Calum Kavanagh after his second-half double earned a 2-0 home win against Port Vale.

Kavanagh’s goals coupled with a clean sheet for goalkeeper Matt Hudson, who last season kept a club-record 19 shutouts, ensured a fine start to the League Two season for Mellon’s side.

Mellon was especially pleased with the opening goal, a quickly taken free-kick from Ollie Norburn which caught out the Vale defence as Kavanagh, who managed two goals in 10 starts last season after arriving from Bradford in January, raced clean through to score his first on the hour mark.

“That is the connection between two good players,” Mellon said.

“You could say (Port Vale) switched off, but my players knew what they were trying to achieve.

“To execute that from there takes good players. It was a great set-piece.

“It is a great start for Calum. We will be pushing him and driving him in the right way to make sure he keeps contributing to the team.

“And at the end, I think he shook hands with everyone in the stadium. They either got a high five or shake of the hand which is good for public relations with the supporters.”

Kavanagh added a second in the 75th minute when Mike Fondop’s acrobatic overhead kick from Keenan Appiah-Forson’s cross fell for Kavanagh to slot home.

Mellon added: “We understand the importance of getting off to a good start, but that’s all we have done by scoring goals and keeping a clean sheet.

“We will drive each other on. As long as we are fair with one another and the players give everything, we will be a really good unit.

“We will enjoy it as results in the Football League are difficult to get. The players should enjoy tonight but we will go again on Monday for another important game next weekend. They will have to keep their standards high because there is a group behind them champing at the bit to play.”

Vale manager Jon Brady was perplexed by his side’s Jekyll and Hyde display.

He said: “We dominated the first half and restricted them (Oldham) to no chances and had them penned it, though in the final third we didn’t have clear-cut chances.

“I wanted us to go on and win the game but, in the second half, it didn’t resemble us compared to the way we played in the first half. We weren’t good enough.

“I was disappointed with the first goal which changed the game. It was a lapse of concentration from a set-piece which was really poor.

“We lost our bravery to play in the second half when we were a totally different team which was disappointing and we have lessons to learn very quickly.

“It is still raw, but I will be looking for solutions and try to put things right next week.”