Wigan Athletic 2 Stockport County 0 ( EFL Trophy Round 2) Wednesday 6 December 2023

 

 

County exited the EFL Trophy going down 2-0 away to Wigan Athletic last night.

The first half was a harrowing affair played out against the backdrop of arctic conditions that turned the 25000-seater stadium into a veritable torture chamber for the relatively small number of brave souls who made it to Lancashire to cheer their team on.

For County the first half was an uphill battle as they struggled for cohesion, largely deprived of attacking opportunities and overrun in midfield , the half punctuated by goals from J Smith and Morrisson that were enough to see the home side looking relatively safe at the break 2-0 up.

The second half was a different story as County used their available substitutes and stepped on the gas a touch dominating possession for long periods.

Crucially however despite limiting Athletic to just two chances of note in the second half and very little in the way of attacking opportunity, County could not muster the goal their effort, work rate and domination of possession merited.

Sad to go out of course, but we do have other priorities to look to, starting with a league game on Saturday with Morecambe, so cheer up and cheer `em on!

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Despite the extreme cold I felt my temperature rising as first off Mc Hugh welcomed Nick Powell   back to Wigan with a thorough mugging, and then Knoyle was hauled down unceremoniously by Jones.

Then when Cody Johnson was hacked down from behind by Shaw I feared that a pattern was being established especially when Johnson was again mistreated this time by Jones.

I am not sure if this pattern of behaviour on Wigan`s part at all discouraged the blues, but the first 15 minutes saw few blue raids – Pye found Powell`s final ball a touch too strong for him at one point , but that was about all that they could muster.

Then Wigan changed the complexion of the game as J Smith tucked the ball home as a breakaway saw a cross ping in from the left to him.

That was a blow if not entirely surprising and just over 5 minutes later another came County`s way started by them setting Wigan up with a free kick wide left. This pierced the blue cover with precision to allow Morrisson the simple task of scoring from close in.

Wigan were now 2-0 up and the night just got several degrees colder!

Credit to County though they did look to reply, initially via Richardson who was sent scurrying clear by Smith`s inviting clearance. Weight of numbers saw the danger off but it showed willing, as did a similar sortie down the right from Richardson and Knoyle a couple of minutes later but this met with the same fate.

An altogether more viable effort followed from Madden ,his pace and skill   delighting County fans as he glided clear down the left causing confusion in the ranks of the home defenders whose luck sadly held as the raid faded away.

But you cannot keep a good old stager down for long and Madden was joined by another of the same ilk  , Nick Powell, 2 minutes later, inducing maximum panic for the likes of Rekik who took on the appearance of a beached whale as the County duo put him to the test.

Rekik was very fortunate to come away from that experience with only his pride damaged- somehow the ball stayed in play long enough for the Wigan cavalry to arrive and bail him out!

For sure County were making a good fist of the latter part of the half – Powell unlucky to see his firmly placed header from Richardson`s cross saved by keeper Amos on the stroke of half time.

I scurried for warmth and a coffee behind the stand when play halted at the break.

For you though……..

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I don’t think I have offered this item before, if I have my apologies, but for Half Time Entertainment this time …….

Some wise words to a passing King…..

https://youtu.be/t2c-X8HiBng?si=RZ7skMJJ7p_mqJ4F

 

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County looked in altogether better shape when the game resumed dropping anchor in the home half imposing what was to be a domination of possession and territory that was to last until game`s end.

 The Wigan keeper dId well to keep a Powell strike out on 54 minutes , and the corner that followed this seemed to offer more hope of a breakthrough , but this took a knock with the sight of Powell having to be substituted shortly after sustaining an injury being replaced by Kyle Wootton.

The County dominance continued apace -Cotterill unlucky not to score after the home keeper spilled the ball under pressure.

It was all County, and the prospects of it getting even better possibly increased as DC rang the changes swapping Madden , Cotterill, Mee and Johnson for Bailey, Touray, Sarcevic and Tanto.

And the momentum continued to build from County, just a goal was missing from the mix but Wootton`s luck was out as he headed narrowly over the bar from Pye`s   inch perfect cross with 25 minutes left to play.

Another minute …… another shot, this time on the turn from Tanto but Amos did his job twixt the sticks for the Lancastrians` and it stayed 0-2.

The stats show that, game long, County dominated possession ( 56 to 44) and shots on target ( 5 to 4) – 2 in each half was Wigan`s ration , but crucially they scored from the first 2.

But before they could test Smith after the break, Humphrys looked about to alarm us with one as he surged clear before being stopped by a superb tackle from Byrne that saved Smith having anything to do in goal for County.

That happened in the 70^th minute, being followed by constant pressure from County at the other end and a run of corners as Amos earned his corn for Wigan with clutch of good quality saves- the best foiling Richardson`s run after a neat Wootton/ Bailey combo had set a chance up.

County`s dominance went on and on- it was disappointing though that there was no sign of them nicking a goal.

Then, with 10 minutes left, courtesy of an awful hospital pass by Byrne towards Smith , Sze ( not a spelling mistake honest) was in on goal. It looked a goal every day of every week, but it wasn`t as a brave save from the County keeper saw him advance on Sze making the most monumentally good save- fantastic stuff!

After that it was back to County pinning Wigan deep in their own half- Knoyle seeing a shot charged down following some excellent football from the blues.

But that certain something was missing- Tanto looking on as Amos dived to push his shot for a corner as the blues piled the pressure on.

Then, with time running out we had  Wigan`s 2<sup>nd</sup> goal attempt of the half and this one looked possibly nailed on as Sze shook off Byrne`s attentions to power through on goal.

0-3 ? …nah, not a bit of it…enter Jordan Smith who blocked the forwards progress with another nerveless save – top class that!

Six minutes added time was found from somewhere- County kept trying of course during same but with no sign of a late change of fortune.

The Flyer was a beauteous haven of warmth on the journey home.

No one was too disappointed, most appreciating that we have other pressing priorities to deal with top most being the league starting Saturday at Morecambe.

See you all there then hopefully!

Wigan Athletic line up :-

Amos , Mc Hugh , Morrison ( Hughes 66) , Watts , Rekik , Jones  ( Lang 80), Shaw ( Humphrys 66), S Smith , Sze , J Smith ( Adeeko 66), Maggennis ( Sharif 80).

Subs not used : Tickle , Carragher .

 

Stockport County line up ;-

Smith , Knoyle , Wright ,   Byrne , Pye , Richardson , Johnson ( Sarcevic 62) ,  Cotterill ( Touray 62), Mee ( Bailey 62), Madden ( Olaofe 62), Powell . ( Wootton 58).

Subs not used : Hinchliffe , Horsfall.

Attendance : 3051 ( 588)

hedgegrower 

 

A few   images via hedgegrower`s phone.....

 

 

 

And some from Andrew Machin..............