Getting There
The train to Crewe is just snaking through north London and the load of sarnies that I made for lunch have of course already been consumed so all feels right with the world. I’d given up on getting a ticket for this match but when I called the S.A.F.C. ticketline on Wednesday to ask about any returns for the Fulham match, I discovered that some thoughtful person had just returned a Wigan ticket so I pounced on it. At £20 Wigan has got to be the cheapest Premier League ticket. Naturally much has been made of Wigan’s 9-1 hammering by Spurs on Sunday but I don’t share the common feeling that we’re going to give them another good hiding this afternoon. Our away form has been pretty lousy while their home form has been good but I think that if we can get an early goal, last week’s result will come back to haunt them and we have a good chance of winning. Bent looked well out of this game but it’s likely that he’ll play some part after all, thank God, as neither Healy nor Murphy inspire me with much confidence, though Campbell is fine and his first league goal can’t be far off. Turner should return too and it’s great to know we’ve got quality like Mensah on the bench. The cleaner at my school is from Ghana and I give him regular updates about Mensah that always make him smile. Match prediction 2-1 to us.

I’ve exchanged a few unpleasant words with Virgin Trains staff in the past but the ticket-steward on my train was most helpful and advised me to stay on till Manchester and change for Wigan there rather than getting the replacement bus service form Crewe. I noticed London Branch stalwart Ian Todd getting off at Crewe to take the bus option and of course hoped to make a race of it and beat him there. On arriving at Wigan I immediately bought a punnet of chips and chomped these, spilling quite a few along the way, as I walked the twenty-five minutes or so to the ground. It was one of those grounds that you could spot from miles away but which took ages to actually arrive at and it seemed to be moving further away as I approached it. Anyway, I was in there slurping a pint of Carling around 2.30. Unusually there was a queuing system for the bar and patrons could only purchase two pints each. I was sitting second row from the back and as kick-off approached nearly the whole of that back row was empty and remained so while there were many vacant seats in the Wigan sections. I liked Wigan’s mascot, which was a very lithe blue and white cat. It even took a shot or two during the warm-up and at least it hit the target which is more than some of the Wigan squad managed. There were no surprises in our line-up and the announcement of \Bramble’s and Nzogbia’s names were greeted with considerable booing from our end.

The Match
In the first half we looked like we were the team who’d been beaten 9-1 last week while Wigan buzzed around quite menacingly a lot of the time. Our passing was often very bad indeed and this soon made many in our end frustrated. We were playing 4-5-1 and Bent had very little service. Turner and Da Silva were looking solid most of the time but the latter was unusually sloppy as the half-hour approached and Scotland capitalized on his error before hitting a post. A few minutes later Turner was booked and from the resultant free-kick I think it was him who nearly put Wigan one-up when he headed goalwards but luckily Fulop made a great save. I’d be happy to have Fulop as our regular goalie as he made a number of fine stops throughout the match. Our end was unusually quiet but then we’d had bugger all to shout about. The Wigan fans weren’t making much of a racket either and with five minutes to the break there was a bit of a deathly air about proceedings. For much of the first half a young man had been sitting behind me with his head in his hands and so I’d moved myself and my computer bag along to the next vacant seat as I didn’t fancy travelling back to Euston with a hood full of spew. As half-time approached a mate of his issued a command and he dutifully came to life and toddled off downstairs after him, never to be seen again.

During the break an old Wigan player came on to make the draw – Jeff Davies I think his name was – and, poor sod, I’ve never heard a crowd so underwhelmed by the return of one of their former heroes. A very little lad called Sam won the Hit the Crossbar Competition while the rest were nowhere.

I’d hoped that we’d bring Campbell on after the break and go 4-4-2 and thankfully this is what happened when he replaced Malbranque. We were much better in the second half and created a number of chances that really should have been taken with Reid, as ever, being involved in most of them. We won plenty of corners but always either failed to get on the end of them cleanly or shot wide. I sensed that we could still win it 1-0 but with around fifteen minutes left Wigan showed signs of coming back into it and then they capitalized on some sloppy midfield play and broke down the left. One of our defenders, maybe Da Silva, slipped at the crucial moment allowing Rodellega to run through and slot it into the far corner. Finally the Wigan crowd woke up and supported their side. They were of the banging-the-drum/The Great Escape type. Our lot had been going great guns throughout the second-half. Reid was booked for a bit of verbal and not long afterwards Campbell followed him after some sarcastic applause when we got a free-kick. With around five minutes to go we brought on Healy and Zenden, and I was impressed with the latter. We continued to press and win corners but it all came to nothing and it ended 0-1. There was one great chance near the end when Bent dummied but Campbell wasn’t wise to it and was left holding his head in his hands. He wasn’t alone there. We should’ve gone 4-4-2 from the start but it’s too late now. To make matters worse, after the match I bumped into Ian Todd on the platform at Wigan Wallgate and he told me that he’d got to the ground ten minutes before me. Shite, it was just one of those days… and a very expensive one too. Still, I’ll see you at Fulham next week if I can get a ticket, hint hint.

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