Warren dodges curve balls
WARREN Joyce has his first point as Wigan manager and believes anything less would have been “a travesty”.
The Tykes enjoyed the better of the game by far, but Wigan probably fluffed the clearest chance during the second period when Yanic Wildschut wasted a gilt-edged one-on-one opportunity.
At least Wigan boss Warren Joyce got himself off the mark with a well-earned point in what was his second game in charge.
His first, seven days earlier, had ended in a 3-0 home thumping by Reading.
Joyce said: “I thought we fully deserved a point here. In fact, it would probably have been a travesty if we hadn’t come away with a draw.
“It was a good performance, given some of the curve-balls that were thrown at us.
“We lost Nick Powell early on through injury and then Adam Bogdan had to be stretchered off with a knee problem, but credit to the players out there.
“Don’t forget this is always a tough place to come to, but none of the lads gave up, we didn’t chuck it, so now we move on with a bit of confidence.
“In many ways this performance wasn’t too dissimilar to the one against Reading, but when you lose two early goals like we did in that game it’s always going to be difficult to claw your way back.”
There were few chances in what proved to be a feisty opening period at Oakwell.
Former Tykes David Perkins went close early on for Athletic, forcing home ‘keeper Adam Davies into a smart save.
The hosts thought they’d broken the deadlock when Sam Winnall headed inches wide as he rose brilliantly to meet Andy Yiadom’s cross.
The Tykes also thought they’d scored in first-half stoppage-time when Winnall headed in but he’d been ruled offside.
The theme pretty much continued into the second period with neither side proving particularly clinical.
Teenage pair Adam Armstrong and James Bree both went close for the hosts, while Wigan hit back with Craig Morgan heading inches wide.
After Wildschut blew his big chance midway through the half – firing tamely at a grateful Davies from the edge of the box – the Tykes threatened to snatch a late winner.
Skipper Conor Hourihane missed their best two chances, curling a free-kick narowly over the crossbar and then side-footing straight at 41-year-old substitute goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.
Tykes boss Paul Heckingbottom at least saw his side extend their unbeaten run to four matches as they make steady progress following promotion.
He said: “The only criticism I’d have after that game is that we didn’t really work their goalkeeper enough.
“That’s the major disappointment from my point of view.
“It was a topsy-turvy game I thought. We started well, faded a bit, got back into it and could easily have nicked one late on.
“However, being disappointed at a result like this just shows how far we have come as a club.
“We’ve gone head-to-head with the team that romped League One last season and we’ve had the better of it.
“We are still very much a work in progress, and that will continue as we move through the season, but again we’re all a bit frustrated because we’ve just not hit the target enough.”