A midday top of the table clash ended in a stalemate after Wigan Athletic fought back from 2-0 down to snatch a controversial 2-2 draw from Rovers, in-front of the Sky Sports cameras, as the points gap between the two sides remained at 6 points.
With the game being hyped up during the build-up, Tony Mowbray called on the supporters to back the Rovers players with a vocal support. Additionally, the Rovers boss noted that his players had to be on top form in order to try and get anything from Sunday’s game.
The side that Mowbray picked to face Wigan saw one change to the side that had travelled to Wimbledon and dispatched the Dons with ease. Corry Evans was swapped for Jack Payne, who took the Northern Irishman’s space on the bench.
The game was started by the visitors and despite both sides holding possession during the opening 5 minutes of the game, which resulted in half-chances for either side, it was Rovers who opened the scoring early on in the game, after just 7 minutes of play.
On the 7th minute, Wigan charged towards goal, but Darragh Lenihan’s tough tackle allowed the ball to fall to the feet of Bradley Dack, who was inside the Rovers half. Dack then turned, and without hesitation, played in a sublime through ball into the path of Adam Armstrong, who used his raw pace to get onto the end of the pass. The forward, who received the ball on the edge of the box, then dispatched a first-time shot with his left-foot which left Christian Walton, in the Wigan net, stranded, as Armstrong wheeled away in celebration.
After another spell of play which constituted in turnovers of possession and corners which were eventually cleared, Rovers used their momentum to put themselves two in-front on the 17th minute, courtesy of some brilliant play by Bradley Dack again, which, this time, allowed him to set up Elliott Bennett for his second goal in as many games. David Raya’s free-kick was booted forwards towards Dack, who did well to keep the ball in play and under his possession after wrestling off Nathan Byrne. Dack then ran down the wing, before cutting inside and playing a deft pass into the path of an overlapping Elliott Bennett, who took a touch before curling the ball past Walton from a tight-angle to make it 2-0 to Rovers.
10 minutes after Rovers doubled their lead, Wigan had their first real chance of the game, which came through their playmaker, Nick Powell. Powell – who had been virtually invisible for the visitors – wound up a shot from the edge of the area, which flew wide of the Rovers goal.
Although Rovers were seemingly in-front and in control of the game, the intensity in which the two sides were playing at was making the game, a fantastic tie to watch. With the intensity and the passion in full flow for either side, Nick Powell, on the 34th minute, nearly added his own piece of skill into the mix, to make the game even livelier, as his overhead kick from close range was well held by David Raya.
Despite the encounter being a feisty one however, referee Geoff Eltringham seemed very reluctant to caution any of the flying tackles and individual battles that were beginning to appear and evolve throughout the first-half. Despite the referee’s poor start to the game, Mr Eltringham did book Wigan’s captain Sam Morsy and Rovers’ Corry Evans, after the pair went in on each other in two separate incidents. An individual battle that the officials did miss, was the one between Nick Powell and Darragh Lenihan, which saw both players repeatedly take cheeky digs at each other and trip one another, in the hope to rile their opposite number up.
On the 41st minute, Rovers nearly extended their lead to three as Corry Evans’s drive at goal was tipped over the bar by Christian Walton. Ryan Nyambe played in the midfielder, who slammed a first-time drive towards goal, from the edge of the area. Although the shot was a sweet one, the Wigan keeper did well to deny the midfielder and tip the ball over.
On the stroke of half-time, Rovers had an appeal for a penalty waved away by the referee. A ball into the box saw Adam Armstrong knock the ball down into the path of Bradley Dack, who was clearly nudged in the ball, as the midfielder fell to the floor. Although the push seemed clear and obvious, the referee and his assistants seemed to disagree as play was waved on.
With two minutes of play being added onto the end of the first period, Rovers were given a free-kick from around 20-yards out on the left-hand side of the box. Charlie Mulgrew and Bradley Dack stood over the ball, but it was the former who struck the ball. Mulgrew’s out swinging effort whistled past the right-hand upright and went out for a goal-kick, as the referee allowed the goal-kick to be taken before ending the half.
With half-time in motion, Rovers and Tony Mowbray would have been delighted with the first-half performance and the manager would have been asking for more of the same from his side as they looked to capitalise on their fast start to the game and grab more goals. Another thing that Mowbray would have been highlighting would be the defensive stability of Rovers and how positive they were in blocking and clearing the ball away from goal. In contrast to Rovers, Paul Cook and his Wigan side would have been livid with the first-half display. Although they were able to craft some runs and some openings into the Rovers box early on, their overall finishing was dreadful, despite them having the highly rated Will Grigg up top.
The second-half was soon started by Rovers as they looked to consolidate the victory with a good defensive display in the second-half.
With 47 minutes on the clock, Adam Armstrong came close to putting Rovers 3 goals to the good as a ball into the box by Derrick Williams, who played a good one-two with Danny Graham, out wide. Williams soon got into a crossing position and played the ball into the box, which allowed Armstrong to get ahead of Dan Burn and poke the ball towards goal. Unluckily, for the loanee, his attempt fell wide of the post.
After 56 minutes had been played, Paul Cook introduced his first substitution, in the shape of James Vaughan, who came onto the field for Nathan Byrne. This change allowed the visitors to start applying the pressure and go more direct as they brought on the former Bury and Sunderland man.
3 minutes after the change, Rovers had a chance to further increase their lead as Dack played in Armstrong again, but the 21-year old couldn’t keep his effort down as he fired over.
With the ball out of play, Wigan introduced Jamie Walker into the mix, in place of Gavin Massey as they looked for a way back into the game.
They didn’t have had to wait long after the substitution, as they found themselves back into the game within 4 minutes of the change as a combination of Michael Jacobs’ volley and Will Grigg’s positioning put the ball into the back of the net. A cross towards the back-post by Nick Powell was headed back across goal by James Vaughan. Vaughan’s header hit Grigg, who was dragged to the floor, before the ball popped up for Jacobs, who volleyed the ball towards Grigg, as it ricocheted off the forwards leg and went into the back of the net to make it 2-1.
On the 68th minute, Rovers had a second appeal for a penalty, as Charlie Mulgrew’s cross fell to the feet of Dack, who fell over the ball after being pushed to the ground, but much like in the first-half, the protests from the Rovers players were waved away.
6 minutes after Rovers’ penalty appeals were dismissed, Wigan got their equaliser courtesy of Max Power. Callum Elder was down the left-hand side and he had his shirt pulled by Adam Armstrong, but managed to maintain control of the ball and played it into the middle. This, was not good enough for the referee, who pulled play back for a free-kick near the left-hand touchline. With the players in the box set-up for either side and Max Power standing over the ball, the former Tranmere man whipped the ball in with ‘Maximum Power’ as it deceived everybody in the Rovers box and ended up in the back of the net, which levelled the scoring.
Following the equaliser, Tony Mowbray turned to his bench as he brought on Marcus Antonsson and Joe Nuttall for Corry Evans and Danny Graham, respectively.
On the 82nd minute, both sides made their final substitutions as they both desperately looked to snatch a late winner. Jack Payne came on for Rovers, replacing Adam Armstrong, whilst David Perkins was introduced for Wigan, in place of Nick Powell.
With the clock ticking over into 90 minutes, the referee added on another 4 minute of stoppage time as both sides piled on the pressure in an attempt to grab a winner. Ultimately, it was Rovers who came the closest to grabbing the three points as Derrick Williams got on the end of Jack Payne’s cross, but the defender’s header was tame and straight into the Wigan ‘keeper’s hands, as the referee blew for full-time.
Throwing away a two-goal advantage was always going to be tough to take on Rovers, but they and the fans could look back on the game with some element of positivity, both towards the league position and the performance. Another positive of this game was that Bradley Dack picked up two assists and was named the Sky Bet and the clubs’ sponsor’s man of the match, which shows that Dack’s form has no intention of dwindling in the latter part of the season.
In terms of the league position, despite Wigan having four games in hand over Rovers, Tony Mowbray’s men sit 6 points clear of the side in 3rd. Shrewsbury, meanwhile are wedged between the sides on 68 points from 34 games, which means they are, by no means, out of the running for the League One title. With Wigan still plying their trade in the FA Cup, it will be interesting to see how they fare with a potential fixture congestion of 3 games a week. Rovers, on the other hand, only have the league to focus on, meaning they most they will have to face is a game in mid-week and a game on the weekend, which should leave Mowbray’s men fresher, in the race for the title.
With this game being seen as two points dropped, rather as one gained for Rovers, they have a chance to put things right next Saturday (10th), when they host Gary Bowyer’s Blackpool at Ewood Park. Following that encounter, the Blues travel down to Bradley Dack’s former club, Gillingham on the 17th March.
