Rovers end season on a low note with defeat at Wigan
Dan Hargraves reports on Bristol Rovers’ defeat to Wigan at the DW Stadium
WIGAN secured victory against fellow mid-table side Bristol Rovers at the DW Stadium, thanks to a goal in either half from Josh Magennis and Jonny Smith to finish the League One campaign on a high.
Baba Adeeko saw a powerful early shot tipped round the post by Rovers goalkeeper Jed Ward before Magennis headed wide from a Smith cross. Ward made a fine save to keep out Thelo Aasgaard’s header off a Charlie Hughes cross while ex-Wigan man Scott Sinclair had a shot deflected wide at the other end.
But that was about as good as it got for Rovers, who fell behind on the half-hour as Magennis steered home Luke Chambers’ cross.
Smith doubled the lead himself three minutes after the restart when he cut in off the right-hand side and fired into the opposite corner of the net. Magennis thought he had added a third when he sidefooted home from another Chambers cross, only to turn and see the offside flag up.
Aasgaard sent a 25-yard shot flying inches over the top before substitute Martial Godo fired past Ward only for James Wilson to somehow get back and clear the ball off the line.
Reflecting on his side’s 15thplaced finish in League One, Rovers boss Matt Taylor said: “We feel we’ve lost so many points out there and certainly in that middle section of games. There were so many times where we felt we were more than in the game and in a good position in the game and then behind again, chasing again and then losing again.
“So in that middle section, probably through the winter months, we feel that we’ve left behind an awful