Rovers were unable to make it three wins on the spin as they grabbed their second clean sheet in as many games to hold onto a valuable point on a cold and windy day in Wigan which saw both sets of defenders emerge from the game on top.
Tony Mowbray had warned his players about the difficulty of this game, especially as Wigan found themselves in 2nd place, with 4 wins and a draw from their last 5 league games. He also noted, in his pre-match interview, that Rovers would have to be on their best form in order to come away from the DW Stadium with all three points.
Rovers’ team selection saw two changes to the side that put three past Portsmouth last Saturday, as Craig Conway and Marcus Antonsson came into the starting eleven, in place of Harry Chapman and Danny Graham, both of whom started the game on the bench; additionally, Dominic Samuel dropped out of the side completely as he sat out the first match of his three game ban as a result of his straight dismissal against Portsmouth.
Rovers kicked off the game with Bradley Dack starting the game. Despite both sides being in good form coming into this highly anticipated clash, it took until the 11th minute for the first chance to be created. Craig Conway and Bradley Dack exchanged some passes on Rovers’ left-hand side as the former played the latter in on goal, however Wigan’s defence were able to clear the ball.
The first real threat on goal came for the hosts, as Ivan Toney was played through with only David Raya to beat. The forward was about to pull the trigger to certainly put Wigan ahead; however Derrick Williams was able to tackle the on-loan Newcastle United man cleanly as his last-ditch challenge saved Rovers from going 1-0 down.
The second opportunity of the first half, once again fell to Wigan, on the 27th minute, as Callum Elder’s cross found the head of Michael Jacobs, who could only guide his header wide. Wigan followed this opportunity up with another, 11 minutes later, on the 38th minute as Gavin Massey was placed in on goal following Elder’s long throw that was missed by the Rovers defenders. The former Colchester winger was able to control the ball under pressure and release an effort on goal, which ended up being rather tame as it was comfortably saved by David Raya.
The closest chance of the first 45 minutes came from Nick Powell. The former Manchester United midfielder picked the ball up from around 20 yards out and struck a venomous shot towards goal; however the attempt fizzed wide of David Raya’s right-hand post. Minutes later, Elliott Bennett became the first player to be booked in the game as he was shown the yellow card following a late challenge on Dan Burn. Marcus Antonsson wrapped up the first half for Rovers in quiet fashion, as he was unable to capitalise on a goalkeeping error by Jamie Jones who was between posts for Wigan.
The first period drew to a quiet close as neither side were particularly able to assert their dominance over the other. Despite the game being built-up by Tony Mowbray as a potential spectacle for both sides and their set of supporters, due to the high quality of players, the quality was seemingly too good as neither side were able to break the other down in order to give their side the advantage.
Wigan kicked off the second half and it was clear that both teams had emerged from the break with the intent of wanting to finish off their opponent, as both sides stepped up a gear and provided a much livelier second period.
Rovers were through on goal for the first time in the game minutes after the break as Bradley Dack dribbled past a Wigan defender and tried to lob the goalkeeper, in an attempt to put Rovers in-front, as well as improving his goal tally to 3 in as many games; however this was not to be the case as his dink found itself on the roof of the net.
The former Gillingham man then had another chance to put the visitors’ in-front on the 53rd minute, as Conway picked up the ball and marauded down the left-hand side, where his cross was met by the head of Dack who again, was unable to get his effort on target.
Rovers’ tempo had vastly increased since the break and this was seen as Dack had a third opportunity to put Rovers in-front, only 30 or so seconds after his header flew over the bar. The midfielder once again combined with Craig Conway, as Conway’s second cross towards Dack in as many minutes saw the 23-year old strike the ball towards goal. However despite his best efforts, he failed to gain a clean connection on the ball, which wasn’t helped by the fact he slipped, and he saw his effort balloon over the crossbar.
Three minutes following Rovers’ sustained pressure, as a result Dack’s three attempts, disaster was to strike for the visitors as Elliott Bennett was given his marching orders by referee Darren England after the official had awarded Bennett a second yellow card for diving. This decision – albeit a wrong one from a Rovers perspective – saw the game’s momentum shift completely as Rovers lost the attacking intent they had built following half-time. The booking itself came as a result of a challenge by Dan Burn. Bennett had picked the ball up on the halfway line and ran towards goal where he was tackled by the Wigan centre-back. The referee – who had incurred the wrath of the visiting supporters as a result of his severe refereeing by not allowing the game to flow when Rovers gained the ball – judged that Rovers’ number 31 had dove and resultantly sent the winger off, which left Rovers in a predicament of whether to continue looking for a goal, or settle for the point.
Mowbray reacted to the sending off during the next break in play as he brought on Harry Chapman for Marcus Antonsson, who had looked very isolated during the first 45 minutes. This substitution was followed up by a Wigan attempt on goal, which once again, came through the work of Callum Elder. The on-loan left-back, this time turned from provider to shot-taker as he was played through by Nick Powell. Elder’s shot however was superbly denied by the legs of David Raya as the Spaniard in the Rovers goal did just about enough to keep Rovers in the tie.
Rovers then introduced their second substitute of the game as Bradley Dack made way for Danny Graham who was brought on in an attempt to physically combat the two Wigan centre-backs, whilst also providing Rovers with a viable goal threat.
Harry Chapman – much like usual – came off the bench to heavily impact the game and on the 73rd minute, he nearly put Rovers in-front with a solid strike from just inside the box, however Jamie Jones in the Athletic goal was equal to it as he produced a sound save, despite conceding a corner as a result.
The Rovers corner amounted to little; however it gave Wigan the opportunity to retain possession and mount an attack of their own, which is what they did with 15 minutes to go. The hosts patiently passed the ball in-front of the Rovers box, trying to find a way through Rovers’ 9 man defence; however Gavin Massey nearly ruined all of Rovers’ defensive hard work as he struck the ball from 20-yards out towards goal. Raya was left rooted to the spot as the ball skidded past him; however the keeper was saved by the base of his left-hand post, which denied Wigan the opener.
Rovers soon after made their final substitution as they changed their system to a 5-3-1. Craig Conway was replaced by Paul Caddis who slotted in at right-back, as Ryan Nyambe shifted centrally to form the third part of Rovers’ 3 man centre-back partnership as Tony Mowbray looked as if he was satisfied with the point they had earned thus far. Wigan simultaneously retaliated as they made a double change; Ryan Colclough and Gary Roberts replaced Gavin Massey and Ivan Toney respectively.
Rovers’ next opportunity on goal, which came on the 82nd minute was arguably the best chance of the whole game and one that the fans especially rued as a result of some poor decision making on behalf of Danny Graham. The ball was lumped forwards by Rovers in an attempt to craft an opening on goal. Graham, as a result, ferociously pressured the high Wigan backline and was able to steal the ball off of the centre-backs, which put him through on goal with only the keeper to beat. The former Sunderland forward reached the edge of the Rovers area and was presented with the relatively simple task of curling the ball past Jones into the bottom corner of the goal, in order to put Rovers 1-0 up and surely seal the three points. However, the forward seemingly had a brainwave and decided to play the ball across the box into the path of Paul Caddis, who was making his way into the box. The pass however was a poor one and was intercepted and eventually cleared by Wigan.
The contest then wound down into injury time; however Rovers’ woes were increased as Harry Chapman went down holding his hamstring, which saw the 19-year old limp off the pitch, leaving his teammates to defend with only 8 outfielders, much to the confusion of the 2,707 Rovers fans behind the goal Rovers were attacking.
The game ended in a stalemate, which showed just how good both defences actually were. This comment was justified by Paul Downing’s Rovers’ stats so far, with the central defender keepings 5 clean sheets in the 5 games that he’s played in; however, the same efficiency could not be said for the forwards as Rovers ended the game with only a single solitary shot on target whilst their opponents had double, at 2. The debatable refereeing decision of the sending off of Elliott Bennett was compounded by the fact that the referee produced the red card, before the second yellow, which caused fury within the Rovers contingency of the support.
The match overall, has shown that Rovers are definitely improving as a unit, despite the sending off, as it shows that the players are capable of successfully withstanding heavy pressure from one of the best teams in the division.
The draw however, sees Rovers drop out of the playoff positions, into 7th. The Blues have24 points from 14 games – which include 2 games in hand – with a positive goal difference of 9. Tony Mowbray will be hoping that his side can improve their attacking outlet in the next game on Tuesday night, which is one of their games in hand, at home to Fleetwood Town, which was re-scheduled as a result of international call-ups in September.
