Struggling Joyce goes Wild after cup relief
WIGAN put their Championship relegation fears aside with a comfortable victory over Nottingham Forest.
Goals in either half from Will Grigg and Yanic Wildschut were enough to see off a poor Forest side, who were second best throughout.
The visitors even squandered a gilt-edged chance to get back into the game when they were awarded a penalty with nine minutes remaining.
Latics goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard, who had joined on loan from Stoke just minutes before kick-off, did well to keep out Forest skipper Eric Lichaj’s spot-kick.
Wigan boss Warren Joyce said: “Whether it’s the cup or the league, it’s just nice to win games.
“I was pleased with the performance and I thought we thoroughly deserved to win the game.”
Forest thought they had made the perfect start when Niklas Bendtner fed Nicolao Dumitru-Cardoso to slot past Haugaard but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Wigan continued to grow into the game despite losing Nick Powell in the ninth minute to a recurring hamstring problem.
The returning Sam Morsy squandered three efforts at goal before Jordi Gomez also missed the target.
It looked as though the visitors would reach half-time on level terms, only for Grigg to slide in at the near post to prod past the exposed Stephen Henderson.
Latics picked up where they left off at the start of the second period and doubled their advantage just before the hour mark.
Wildschut released Stephen Warnock down the left before taking the return ball and firing low past Henderson into the bottom corner.
There was hope for the visitors with the spot-kick but Lichaj’s effort was saved by the diving Haugaard to his right-hand side.
Forest boss Philippe Montanier, who came under fire from visiting fans for his substitutions, said: “Our priority is the Championship, but this game was a good opportunity for us. But we lost and played a poor game.”
When the in-form Albion ace Matt Phillips grabbed his fifth goal in his last 11 appearances before the break, Tony Pulis’ men seemed to be cruising to victory.
But that was before Darren Bent rocketed Championship Derby level – and then Ince dealt an unlikely knockout blow with a stunning free-kick.
Until that double intervention – in the space of three second-half minutes – there was no hint of Steve McClaren’s men launching a spectacular comeback.
By the time former England striker Bent scored his fifth goal of the season, dominant Albion should have been far out of sight.
With Phillips pulling the strings, the hosts had carved out more than enough openings to kill off McClaren’s injury-hit troops.
The Derby boss was full of praise for match-winner Ince and he said: “What a terrific performance and result – it has to be to win here. We wanted to show what we could do and the bonus was to get this win. We had some heroic performances all the over the pitch.
“And Tom showed his Premier League quality today. He should be a Premier League player. He wants to get back there.
“I don’t know why I get the best out of him. We just allow him to play. But he sure puts in the work too. His running is relentless.”
Thankful for a home draw, Pulis had ordered his Baggies, who reached the last eight in the cup two years ago, to make the most of that advantage. And it was the five-time FA Cup winners who made the brighter start Derby’s Darren Bent roars after levelling when they came within a whisker of breaking the deadlock early on.
A poor fourth-minute clearance fell invitingly to hitman Salomon Rondon inside the Derby area – with their keeper Scott Carson way out of goal.
Rondon fired towards the unguarded net but Richard Keogh sprinted back to make a miraculous clearance.
But after Jonas Olsson had stabbed James McClean’s corner inches wide, Albion went ahead in the 35th minute.
Once again, the excellent McClean played his part by intercepting Keogh’s pass – but then it was all about Phillips.
He took a couple of touches on the edge of the area before firing low and hard into the bottom corner past the helpless Carson.
Phillips then went into overdrive and two minutes later almost ended Derby’s interest in the competition.
He left three players for dead as he raced to the by-line and though his cut back was ideal for James Morrison, the Scottish winger blazed over. If that was a golden