BULLARD ‘BAGS’ WINNER FOR LATICS WITH LAST GASP STRIKE AT THE HAWTHORNS!!!

Wigan winger Jimmy Bullard hit the winner to send Albion crashing to their third straight defeat. Jonathan Greening had given the Baggies a 1-0 lead midway through the first half, but that was soon cancelled out as David Connolly levelled the scores with a clever chip over keeper Kirkland. The game could have gone either way as both sides squandered chances to win it, however in the end it was the Latics that came out on top when former West Ham man Bullard struck a sweet right footed shot into the bottom corner of the net in injury time to seal the points for the Premiership new boys.

Paul Jewell’s men started the brighter and they were brimming with confidence following their first Premier League victory against Sunderland two weeks ago although it was the hosts that created the first half chance of the game when De Zeeuw failed to clear a long ball from Neil Clement, Nathan Ellington was onto it like a flash but his right footed shot slithered wide of Pollitt’s right hand post. Wigan had their first opportunity moments later but Republic of Ireland striker David Connolly could only shoot wide on the turn from 15 yards out following a McCulloch flick on.

Carter was then denied his first Baggies goal by keeper Pollitt as he weakly headed a Jonathan Greening cross straight into the arms of the former Rotherham shot stopper when he should have done better. Ex-Blues man Carter was soon in the thick of things again, hitting a left foot shot from 30 yards out that whistled wide of Pollitt’s left hand upright. At the other end Jason Roberts was presented with a chance inside the box, but the Bermudan International completely miss hit his shot much to the amusement of the home supporters.

In the 26th minute the deadlock was broken by Albion, under pressure from Nathan Ellington Latics keeper Pollitt could only clear as far as Jonathan Greening who made no mistake smashing a right footed shot into the top corner of the net. The lead lasted until four minutes before the break when an excellent through ball from Damien Francis put David Connolly in the clear, the former Leicester man kept his cool to clip the ball over the onrushing Kirkland and into the back of the net to make it 1-1. As half-time neared Albion missed a golden chance to go back in front, but Gaardsoe somehow planted his free header wide from just six yards out.

Half Time: Albion 1-1 Wigan Athletic

Albion started the second period much the brighter as they looked to regain the lead. Nathan Ellington who had hardly had a kick in the first half showed a glimpse of why the Baggies forked out £3m on him as he lashed in a powerful right footed shot from just outside the box, but keeper Pollitt pulled off a fantastic save to tip the ball over the bar. The Latics were still looking dangerous at the opposite end though as Kavanagh’s driving cross almost found Connolly who was just inches away from getting a touch.

Arjan De Zeeuw had a lucky escape in the 70th minute when he could only half clear an Albrechtsen cross, the loose ball dropped kindly for substitute Richard Chaplow who took a touch before driving a shot inches wide of Pollitt’s goal. Robert Earnshaw and Kevin Campbell were then thrown into action in a 4-3-3 formation in a final throw of the dice by Baggies boss Bryan Robson in an attempt to gain all three points. 

The change almost backfired as Graham Kavanagh was given far too much room to try a long range shot but luckily for Albion the ball whistled well wide of Kirkland’s goal. Earnshaw then came within a foot of scoring as he looked set to latch onto a Watson flick back, unfortunately for the Welsh International the ball was behind him and he failed to get any connection on the ball which enabled Wigan to clear the danger.

In the 90th minute the Baggies could have won it when Earnshaw was presented with a half volley on the edge of the box, but his right footed effort although powerful was straight down the throat of keeper Pollitt who did well to palm the ball away to safety. In injury time all was lost for Albion as the Latics stole the points, Connolly found Roberts who teed up Jimmy Bullard to hit a venomous strike past the helpless Kirkland and into the corner of the net to give Paul Jewell’s men their first away win in the Premiership.

Full Time: Albion 1-2 Wigan Athletic

MAN OF THE MATCH: Paul Robinson

PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF TEN

Kirkland 6 - Did not have to do much, his kicking was not the best today.
Watson 5 - Average, his defending was poor at times. Nearly cost us a goal at the end.
Gaardsoe 5 - Poor from Gaardsoe, still does not look like the player from last season. Should have scored with a free header.
Clement 6 - Looked in control as the captain but it was not an excellent display from Clem.
Robinson 7 - Looked like his old self today, battling and never gave up.
Albrechtsen 6 - Used his pace well in the second half, caused the opposition some problems.
Wallwork 5 - He’s getting worse every game, although he does do good things he turns his back on the ball far too much for my liking.
Carter 6 - Another decent performance from him but he needs the protection from a ball winner and then we may see the best of him.
Greening 6 - Apart from the goal, he didn’t do much, should have got more involved.
Ellington 5 - Had rasping shot in the second half which almost put us into the lead, but that apart he was anonymous as De Zeeuw beat him to nearly every ball in the air.  
Horsfield 7 - Another good performance from Geoff who gave his all and worked his socks off, it was just a shame the ref spoiled it for him.

SUBS:
Chaplow 5 - Tried to make things happen and was unlucky with a shot but once he was put in on his own to be the ball winner he was never in it.
Campbell 5 - Won a few headers in the air but hardly got into the game.
Earnshaw 5 - Had a couple of chances to score but once again failed to do so, was hardly in the game apart from that.

REF WATCH

Mark Clattenburg 2 - Absolutely awful refereeing, failed to let the game flow and gave some terrible decisions for both sides.

FAN WATCH

Albion 3 - Very poor, it has totally gone at the minute which is obviously due to the way we are playing.
Wigan Athletic 8 - Very good support from the Latics, reminded me of us when we were promoted the first time. Never shut up singing through the whole game.

FINAL THOUGHTS

"The frailty of the way we give goals away is really poor. For the first goal, we were just jogging and the lad ran down the side of us. Then they scored a second goal when all we had to do was keep possession of the ball but we kept giving it away.”

"For a scrappy game, when we were in front, our possession was really poor. In the second half, the endeavour we put in was a little bit better even though the game was still a bit scrappy. They never really threatened but we switched off at the end. How we let their lad turn in the corner and let them get a man on the edge of our box totally free in the last minute is beyond me.”

"There have been a few harsh words said and the lads have got to look at themselves as far as the way we're defending. We're resting on our laurels of last season where we think we're a good football team and can just pass the ball and play. We're forgetting about the hard work and the defensive qualities which got us survival."

"We've got to get back to basics and make sure we do the hard work and then the football will look after itself. It's a long hard season but this is a bad game to lose because we've given Wigan three points and the manner of the defeat was especially disappointing. No matter what team you are in the Premiership, if you lose to a team that has just come up, you will get booed by the fans."