I suppose most people are expecting Wigan to win this match, given the recent form of both teams, but I have a funny feeling that we're going to get a result. When Clarke came on on Tuesday, he injected some threat down our left and if Neil puts him on from the off, I think we can make a fight of it. Will Xhemalji finally get a start? I really hope so. James McClean has been scoring a lot since his return to Wigan while Max Power has scored several too and they'll be doing their best to beat us this afternoon. Power should be well-received by our travelling fans but I doubt very much if McClean will be. Despite the awfulness of the last month, we're still somehow in the play-off zone so we can of course stay there if we arrest our decline. I dislike the play-offs as much as most of us but they are the only realistic path to promotion for us. With O'Nien, McGeady and especially Broadhead slowly coming back into the picture there's still time to claim a top six spot. I'll be listening to the match on SAFSEE and my prediction is 2-2.
I got the team-news at 2.25 and was pleased to see that Xhemajli was finally starting as Doyle was being rested. It'd be a baptism of fire for the lad so I wished him well. Embleton was also starting instead of Defoe and the bench was looking pretty tasty.
I tuned into the game and, as ever, was looking forward to it. The atmosphere sounded great and I was pleased we were in red and white. We were starting with three at the back.
We won a free-kick in a good area after thirty seconds and when it was finally taken by Pritchard, Wright headed it down into the bottom left corner past Amos to put us ahead. Next thing we had to defend a free-kick in our own half after a Cirkin foul but Power's kick was poor and Gooch of all people headed it clear. Xhemajli's first mention sounded positive when he blocked a pass. Matete was booked as he conceded a free-kick and this time Power's kick went straight to Patterson. Wigan were soon attacking again and their pace got the better of us but McClean shot wide. It looked like it was going to be a blood and thunder encounter with plenty of cards. Both Power and McClean were being booed by our fans. We were still ahead at fifteen minutes but so were rivals Sheffield Wednesday, MK Dons and Wycombe. Wigan were doing most of the pressing but hadn't seriously threatened Patterson yet. There was some hesitation between Patterson and Xhemajli in the twenty-sixth minute but thankfully the latter cleared it before the Wigan attackers could take advantage.
We won the first corner of the game in the thirty-first minute and it immediately led to another but we couldn't make anything count. A few minutes later we were back to win another corner and I was more than pleased to have the ball up their end. Xhemajli tried a bit of a flick but Amos gathered easily. Next thing Tilt upended Stewart in the box after good work by Winchester and Gooch down the right and a penalty was awarded. After Power was yellow-carded for a bit of verbal and pushing and shoving, Stewart took the kick and blasted it in to make it 2-0. Patterson was showing a safe pair of hands on the rare occasions he had to use them. Xhemajli was flattened by Magennis with what sounded like an elbow but he only got a yellow. Four minutes of stoppage-time were announced and Gooch was booked too for a bit of footsie. It didn't sound like we'd have a full coterie of players on the pitch by the end of the game. It remained 2-0 at the break and we'd deserved our lead, showing plenty of fight (maybe a bit too much actually) and determination. We were fifth for a while at least.
Wigan had scored a lot of late goals this season and I doubted that Patterson would have such a quiet time in the second period but optimism was still rearing its ugly head as we kicked of again. There'd been no changes to either side. McClean fouled Pritchard in the opening minute so it was business as usual and from the free-kick the ball whizzed across their box just lacking a body-part to put it in the net. I'd been expecting Wigan to batter us from the restart but instead it was us who did that to them and a good shot from Pritchard went narrowly wide. I had to stand up and start pacing around. Oxford went behind against Cambridge and that was all to the good. Patterson saved well from a low Lang shot and he was having a good game. Wigan made the first change around the hour-mark, replacing Magennis with Humphrys. Wigan soon won their first corner and Gooch, who was defending well, hooked it away. They quickly won a second corner and Patterson punched it out before saving again when the ball came back in. Accrington had taken a 3-2 lead against Wycombe. We won our fourth corner with about twenty minutes to go and it was headed out for a throw to us. Embleton was booked for time-wasting and then a good effort from Stewart went just past the post. Pritchard joined the rest of them in the book and with about twelve minutes to go we made our first change, bringing on Clarke for Embleton. I was really happy to see Clarke on the pitch as I was sure he could torment their defence. Xhemajli went down with cramp and after being on the sidelines for so long that was understandable. Neil replaced Prichard with eight minutes left and a win was within our sights. Stewart was booked, soon followed by Tilt and Naylor, and this was getting like the AFC Wimbledon match. We won a free-kick and when Clarke took it, it was turned out for a corner as our fans belted out, “Sundland Till I Die!” With three minutes left we were awarded another penalty, though commentators Barnes and Benno were mystified as to why. Stewart banged it home to confirm the win. Eight minutes of stoppage-time were found from somewhere but I was quite happy about that really and our fans were sounding happy too. Cirkin was yellow-carded and I think that made double figures altogether. It ended 3-0 to us and there was a loud cheer in the stadium.
This was a tremendous result and we're in fifth spot. With Xhemajli looking solid and Patterson putting in a confident performance let's hope we've finally got some solidity in defence.
