The good Lord Lee Barnard was introduced at half-time and made his mark with a cool finish after Oldham went in front through Neil Eardley's penalty.
This denied Latics their first win in eleven games and first under their returned messiah Joe Royle.
The away faithful had mostly decided on a beach party and luckily had the weather for it. However, there was the odd animal, police woman and sexy schoolgirl but no drawfs, they were so two seasons ago.
Blues boss Steve Tilson still has a couple of surprises up his sleeve and while we expected Grant back for the injured Christophe; Sankofa allowing Francis to move to the right wing as Betsy dropped to the subs bench and Freedman in for Barnard, who did the same, was not. (Blues' No. 2 goalkeeper Ian Joyce was also absent after sustaining a finger injury. His place on the bench was taken by Clark Masters.)
The singing started before the kick-off and continued, with the odd breather, for the whole of the game. While maybe not in the Southampton/Doncaster class it was still pretty good and ex-captain Kev must have enjoyed the loud chorus of 'Maher is a Shrimper' when he visited the away end to take a corner.
And one thing was obvious, amongst some of the crowd Geoffrey King has not been forgiven!
As for the game, there was an end of season feel to a match of few real chances, but the result meant more frustration for Latics boss Royle.
His return to Boundary Park after 15 years away has yielded just four points from a possible 24 and Royle admitted sweeping changes will be needed in the summer if Oldham are to challenge for promotion next term.
While this was Southend's first draw, also 1-1, since Borient away on January 20 and it finally saw the end of the play-off dream for certain as Tranmere grabbed a draw at home to Yeovil as well.
The Blues cannot finish lower than 9th now with 8th looking good when the season finishes with relegated Cheltenham at Roots Hall next Saturday.
The Latics have been in freefall since January and the familiar problem of conceding soft goals was again on show for Southend's leveller.
Barnard capitalised with his 11th goal of the season and it was the Yellow shirted away side who went closest to snatching all three points.
Southend wasted an early chance when Adam Barrett raided down the left and set up Dougie Freedman, who blazed over the bar.
But Oldham were denied by the woodwork after nine minutes as midfielder Maher floated a free-kick over the defensive wall and saw it strike a post.
Simon Francis headed wide for Southend before referee Craig Pawson angered the home crowd by refusing penalty appeals for handball.
Oldham's Ian Westlake then scuffed a shot straight at the keeper and went close from 18 yards with a powerful drive on the turn.
Oldham broke through on 51 minutes after Dean Smalley seized possession wide on the left and sprinted into the box before being referee Pawson decided he had been brought down by Snoop Dog. Even Royle was surprised it was given!
The resulting spot-kick was converted by Eardley as he drilled his shot through Steve Mildenhall's dive.
Oldham, however, led for less than ten minutes as men were caught out of position at the back, leaving Theo Robinson in space.
Robinson crossed to Barnard, who controlled eight yards out before drilling inside the posts.
Southend could have gone in front when Francis sent a free header off target, while Anthony Grant's injury-time free kick forced a save from Mark Crossley.
By now fifty odd Shrimpers had run around the away end several times and some decent photos should be up on the site with a day tripper Monday.
Tilly was rightly proud of the fans and you can read his post match reaction here: www.southendunited.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10444~1639017,00.html
This denied Latics their first win in eleven games and first under their returned messiah Joe Royle.
The away faithful had mostly decided on a beach party and luckily had the weather for it. However, there was the odd animal, police woman and sexy schoolgirl but no drawfs, they were so two seasons ago.
Blues boss Steve Tilson still has a couple of surprises up his sleeve and while we expected Grant back for the injured Christophe; Sankofa allowing Francis to move to the right wing as Betsy dropped to the subs bench and Freedman in for Barnard, who did the same, was not. (Blues' No. 2 goalkeeper Ian Joyce was also absent after sustaining a finger injury. His place on the bench was taken by Clark Masters.)
The singing started before the kick-off and continued, with the odd breather, for the whole of the game. While maybe not in the Southampton/Doncaster class it was still pretty good and ex-captain Kev must have enjoyed the loud chorus of 'Maher is a Shrimper' when he visited the away end to take a corner.
And one thing was obvious, amongst some of the crowd Geoffrey King has not been forgiven!
As for the game, there was an end of season feel to a match of few real chances, but the result meant more frustration for Latics boss Royle.
His return to Boundary Park after 15 years away has yielded just four points from a possible 24 and Royle admitted sweeping changes will be needed in the summer if Oldham are to challenge for promotion next term.
While this was Southend's first draw, also 1-1, since Borient away on January 20 and it finally saw the end of the play-off dream for certain as Tranmere grabbed a draw at home to Yeovil as well.
The Blues cannot finish lower than 9th now with 8th looking good when the season finishes with relegated Cheltenham at Roots Hall next Saturday.
The Latics have been in freefall since January and the familiar problem of conceding soft goals was again on show for Southend's leveller.
Barnard capitalised with his 11th goal of the season and it was the Yellow shirted away side who went closest to snatching all three points.
Southend wasted an early chance when Adam Barrett raided down the left and set up Dougie Freedman, who blazed over the bar.
But Oldham were denied by the woodwork after nine minutes as midfielder Maher floated a free-kick over the defensive wall and saw it strike a post.
Simon Francis headed wide for Southend before referee Craig Pawson angered the home crowd by refusing penalty appeals for handball.
Oldham's Ian Westlake then scuffed a shot straight at the keeper and went close from 18 yards with a powerful drive on the turn.
Oldham broke through on 51 minutes after Dean Smalley seized possession wide on the left and sprinted into the box before being referee Pawson decided he had been brought down by Snoop Dog. Even Royle was surprised it was given!
The resulting spot-kick was converted by Eardley as he drilled his shot through Steve Mildenhall's dive.
Oldham, however, led for less than ten minutes as men were caught out of position at the back, leaving Theo Robinson in space.
Robinson crossed to Barnard, who controlled eight yards out before drilling inside the posts.
Southend could have gone in front when Francis sent a free header off target, while Anthony Grant's injury-time free kick forced a save from Mark Crossley.
By now fifty odd Shrimpers had run around the away end several times and some decent photos should be up on the site with a day tripper Monday.
Tilly was rightly proud of the fans and you can read his post match reaction here: www.southendunited.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10444~1639017,00.html
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