I'll be at the match this afternoon and it'll be my first since the opening day of the season. This game is going to be extra tasty because of those ex-players of ours being in the Wigan squad. I think that with the exception of McClean they'll get a decent ripple from our fans as all in all they made a good contribution while they were with us.
I wish we'd have gotten Broadhead back again, though, as he was class and he'll certainly be a man to watch today. Wigan have lost three out of their last five matches so they've hardly been consistent. They're four places and two points above us so obviously a win would take us above them but can we manage to get a goal or two? If we play like we did in the second-half last Saturday, then I think we can do that. Cirkin may well get a start but it'll no doubt be too early for Simms to be included. I was pleased to hear that Huggins had a run-out for the Under 21's last night. Match prediction: 2-1 to us.
I stopped for a libation in Fitzie's as usual and when I got the team-news there, the only change seemed to be that Evans was suspended and Cirkin was in. I couldn’t find out what the Wigan team was so I’d have to wait for that. Match predictions included 2-1 (x2), 2-0 and 0-0/1-0.
The pavement across the bridge was packed but the long queue at the turnstile went down very quickly. When I got into my seat in the centre of the East Stand at 2.50, there was a strong wind blowing. As the teams emerged it started pouring. There was a bit of cheering and plenty of booing for the Wigan side as they were announced and four exes were starting, with Ashley Fletcher also on the bench. Our fans sang along loudly to ‘Wise Men Say’.
Roberts went on a nifty run in the third minute and his low shot went just wide of the left post. Soon afterwards Embleton had a weak low shot on target but it was all grist to the mill. There was plenty of booing for McClean when he got the ball and there were plenty of shiny pieces of coloured paper from the earlier display on the pitch so the possibility of a beach-ball goal was mooted by some. Pritchard did a bit of refuse-collecting while a Wigan player was down injured. There was a round of applause from both sets of fans in the thirteenth minute for Oliver Graham. This was soon followed by a chant of, “Fuck the I.R.A.” from some in the Roker end after McClean had been booed again. Meanwhile Wigan were starting to press more after we’d had much the better of the first fifteen minutes. There’d been a number stoppages for injuries, mainly for Wigan players, and the game had been broken up a lot. Embleton received the first yellow-card of the game in the twenty-fifth minute for a bad tackle and I was relieved he got only that. Tilt soon joined him in referee Keith Stroud’s book for a similar tackle.
By the half-hour mark Wigan hadn’t threatened our goal while Patterson was again displaying a safe pair of hands when necessary. Their fans had been very quiet and fully deserved an obligatory chant of, “Your support is fuckin’ shit.” We had the ball in their net in the thirty-third minute after great build-up play but it was ruled out for offside. Wigan won the first corner just afterwards and Whatmough flicked it well wide. Five minutes before the break we put together another flowing move that resulted in Clarke shooting wide when I thought it was going to be 1-0. Shortly after that Roberts did the same and we paid for those misses as Wigan put together a rapid move down the left that culminated in Wyke giving Patterson no chance as he put them ahead. Four minutes of added-time were announced but it remained 0-1 as the whistle went for half-time. There was applause and a bit of booing as the sides went off.
It had become really cold after such a sunny morning but our cockles were warmed and there was great applause when Niall Quinn came on to make the half-time draw.
We’d clearly have to make some substitutions fairly soon to get anything out of the game and as the teams re-emerged Gooch had been replaced by Amad. Wigan started the better and McClean had a decent shot that wasn’t too far over. Their defence was also looking impregnable so things weren’t looking that great for us. Two minutes later, though, things were looking very good for us when Embo finished off a wonderful flowing move to put us level with a low shot. Plenty of time for that winning goal… Both sides were making a good racket so the atmosphere was great. On the hour-mark Wigan were awarded a free-kick just to the left of our box after a spot of wrestling and it resulted in a corner that Patterson punched well away. We were starting to put together some really good moves were battling like hell for the ball. Our fans were buzzing and I felt a goal coming. Wyke received a good round of applause when he was subbed with just over twenty minutes left – some booed. We had a great chance when a Clarke cross along the ground went begging about a yard out but we didn’t have to wait long as from a Pritchard free-kick on the right Cirkin nodded it into the net and we were ahead.
With just less than twenty minutes left the sun finally reappeared and the mood was very upbeat. Broadhead got a moderate ripple when he went off and there was soon more applause for the attendance of 37.016. Time was ticking away pleasingly and rapidly, and I dared to dream… Patterson was booked for time-wasting and that didn’t go down well as Wigan had been doing a fair bit themselves earlier. We survived a wobbly few seconds in our box that resulted in a corner but could’ve been much worse. Five minutes of stoppage-time were announced, which brought a few groans, and then we brought on Wright for Embo, which was a good move as Wigan had by no means given up the ghost. We saw the game out well and there was great joy as the final whistle blew.
