WILL FIRES THE LATICS TO VICTORY
IF YOU need a man for the big occasion, it’s always handy to have Will Grigg on your side.
The Northern Ireland international famously popped up with an FA Cup fifth round winner for Wigan against Manchester City earlier this term – and he notched another precious goal on Tuesday night.
With the table-topping Latics looking as though they were going to be thwarted by lowly Oxford at the DW Stadium, Grigg stepped up the plate.
The substitute tucked the ball home three minutes from time after fine work by fellow replacement Devante Cole set him up to score the only goal of the game.
It was his 25th goal of a memorable season and lifted Wigan three points clear of closest challengers Blackburn.
“Great credit to the players – the win was massive,” said Latics boss Paul Cook. “We weren’t playing well and you could feel the anxiety around the stadium.
Massive
“The fans did great in the second-half to try and give us a lift – and it was a moment of magic from Devante Cole to tee up Will.”
And what made the victory all the more sweet was that third-placed Shrewsbury slipped to a 2-0 home defeat against play-off chasing Charlton.
It meant Wigan were a whopping eight points clear of the Shrews with just four matches left.
Faltering Shrewsbury are struggling for goals at present and visitors Charlton made them pay.
Skipper Jason Pearce headed home a Jake Forster-Caskey free-kick on 74 minutes to break the deadlock and Lee Bowyer’s Addicks made the points safe deep in stoppage time. Josh Magennis lofted the ball home after an error by Shrews keeper Dean Henderson.
It appears all the more likely that surprise package Shrewsbury will now have to settle for the play-offs. There is a possibility they could meet Charlton again – the Londoners moved back into the play-off positions with their midweek victory.
Rotherham strengthened their grip on fourth place with a 1-0 victory at Gilling
ham. Will Vaulks fired home the winner on 20 minutes.
Portsmouth’s play-off aspirations suffered a setback as they went down 3-1 at
Bradford. In front of almost 20,000 fans, Nat Knight-Percival, Matty Lund and Charlie Wyke struck for the Bantams, while the ever-reliable Brett Pitman netted for Pompey.
The big game at the bottom end of the table between
Rochdale and Oldham finished goalless, though it wasn’t without controversy.
A fan had to be restrained by players after coming on to the pitch to confront referee Peter Bankes in the first half after the official had awarded a penalty against Oldham for a foul by Anthony Gerrard on Joe Thompson.
Controversy
After the delay, Oldham keeper Johny Placide superbly saved Joe Rafferty’s spot-kick. The point kept the Latics above the dotted line, with Dale one place and one point behind them.
Already-relegated Bury earned a point from an entertaining 3-3 draw at
Doncaster. Andy Butler and John Marquis gave Donny a 2-0 lead, but the Shakers hit back to lead 3-2 with a Niall Mason own goal, Jay O’Shea (pen) and George Miller effort.
However, Andy Boyle headed home on 65 minutes to deny the basement dwellers a surprise win.