Wigan Athletic vs Derby County: Match Report

Wigan Athletic F.C. vs. Derby County F.C.

Date: Sunday 1st December

Venue: The DW Stadium

Referee: David Coote

Score: 3-1

A strong Wigan team took to the field against Derby. Owen Coyle taking a few gambles as Will Keane and Ivan Ramis both started for the side, the manager obviously looking to shake up the team and try and get us on winning ways. The noticable absences of Jean Beausejour and James Perch told the whole story of the day, but not of the game.

Within side three minutes an unfortunate Lee Nicholls, who before Sunday's game had only conceded four goals in the league this season, was picking the ball out of the back of the net. Ivan Ramis's miss timed challenge meaning that Derby had a free-kick close to the goal, which saw Craig Bryson.

That set the tone for the next half an hour as the players looked sluggish and out of passion. The crowd wasn't helping as the anger at Coyle was starting to spill out from the terraces.

When Derby went 2-0 you wonder if there could be a revolt.

Ben Watson's tame pass across the box played in Derby's Simon Dawkins who opened his body up before slamming the ball past the helpless Nicholls in the Wigan goal. Surely now the team would kick start and try and have ago at the Rams.

That was a false hope and within 15 minutes Derby had extended their lead further. This time James McClean got the wrong side of Chris Martin in the box, the Derby player tumbled and a penalty was the decision by the referee. Martin took it him self and converted it.

Would we start playing now?

In the last 15 minutes of the half we managed to string some passes together and late on in the half managed to hit the woodwork courtesy of a superb freekick effort from Stephen Crainey. Had it been on target it would have been in the goal and given Wigan a ray of hope going into the second half.

Two changes at half time for Latics as on came Grant Holt and Roger Espionza for Will Keane and Ben Watson. These changes and whatever was said at half time had the desired effect as Derby rarely left their half of the pitch second half as Wigan three everything at them.

With five minutes of the second half that produced a consolation goal for the team. An Emmerson Boyce cross found the head of Nick Powell who gave Wigan hope and even a chance of pulling something back from the game. That was so long as other players could convert their chances, which surprisingly they couldn't.

Grant Hot, James McArthur, Nick Powell and Leon Barnett all had very good chances in the second half and all of them could have scored. Lee Grant in the Derby goal though produced some heroic saves to keep the Derby lead as Wigan went down to their third defeat in eight days.