Hallam Hope was the late hero with a well-taken winner deep into stoppage time to cap a fine Friday night for Latics.

The game looked to be heading for a stalemate before sparking into life late on after two goals in the first half - Justin Amaluzor cancelling out Dan Gardner’s super opener.

But Hope popped up as sub Charlie Cooper provided the quality needed to unlock the away defence one final time.

The winner was a fitting counterpart to a crisp first-half strike from Gardner.

John Sheridan’s side will be thankful to goalkeeper Magnus Norman, who will very much be the unsung hero of this win with a world-class save to keep out Archie Davies’ free-kick deep into normal time.

Athletic created numerous opportunities but got there in the end as Hope notched his second goal of the season in front of another excellent crowd of 6,635.

Mike Fondop returned to the side to lead the line up front as Sheridan opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation, while new signings Oscar Threlkeld and Mitchell Roberts came straight into the side.

The opening stages were fairly even with both sides looking to respond to defeats in their previous fixtures.

Anih Effiong and Ben Tollitt traded half chances in a tight opening, but a real moment of quality lit up the game as Latics took the lead 20 minutes in.

Hope saw a shot blocked just inside the box and the ball sat nicely for Gardner, who scythed a fizzing strike through a crowd of players and into the far corner.

But the lead lasted only eight minutes – Amaluzor drifting into a pocket of space 18 yards out and firing beyond Norman with similar precision.

Hope thought he’d restored the lead just two minutes later when he headed home after Aldershot keeper Luca Ashby-Hammond looked to have misjudged a high ball, but the celebrations were cut short as the referee ruled a foul against the keeper.

Ashby-Hammond was again tested, this time by Tollitt who tried to sneak a rising drive inside the near post after being teed up by good work from Hope.

Aside from Amaluzor, big striker Effiong was the visitors’ most prominent threat and he outpaced two defenders to smash an angled shot wide as half-time closed in.

And Hope was inches away from giving the hosts the lead going into the break following a great move; cutting inside and firing in a low shot which was deflected narrowly wide.

Both Hope and Tollitt were denied by Ashby-Hammond as Latics started the second half strongly – the latter kept out only by a acrobatic tip-over.

Meanwhile Fondop headed a deep cross wide at the back post when unmarked with the hosts piling on the pressure.

But the hosts couldn’t turn their endeavours into goals, and Aldershot could well have struck themselves with 10 minutes to had Offiong opted to play in an unmarked team-mate rather than selfishly shoot himself.

Norman then produced one of the moments of the match to deny Davies with two minutes left in normal time, getting across brilliantly to claw the full-back’s goal-bound free kick out of the top corner with the best save of the game.

And it proved to be a crucial intervention as Athletic went to win the game in dramatic fashion.

Sub Cooper’s slide-rule pass released Hope, who swept an emphatic finish beyond the keeper to spark Friday night delirium under the lights at Boundary Park.

Latics: Norman, Clarke, Roberts, McGahey, Sheron, Threlkeld (Cooper, 77), Gardner (C), Burgess (Vaughan, 82), Tollitt, Hope, Fondop (Luamba, 90).

Subs Not Used: Leutwiler, Stobbs.

Aldershot: Ashby-Hammond, Davies, Harfield, Cordner, Phillips, Frank, Glover (Amartey, 87), McQuoid (Klass, 73), Panayiotou (Jordan, 64), Amaluzor, Effiong.

Subs Not Used: Hall, Willard.

Attendance: 6,635 (208 away)