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Fans
Report: (Brighton 2 - 4 Wigan) |
I'm
feeling rather dazed by it all, quite frankly!
Two-nil
down in the first two minutes against the league leaders -
there
was talk of that infamous occasion when Bristol Rovers did us 8-2.
Especially when it was 4-0 by 34 minutes. Were Wigan really that good?
Were we really that bad? A woman on the phone-in mentioned playing with a
swagger when you're top
of the league - and they certainly did that. But, above all else,
our defence and midfield simply
couldn't match their movement, pace and
precision.
They found time and space and punished
it ruthlessly.
Hesitancy
from Hinshelwood and
Butters was exploited and Harding had a nightmare game
up
against Gary Teale, who ran him ragged. Our central midfield pair
failed to offer enough protection when
it was needed - indeed Oatway
had one of
his poorest games of an otherwise impressive season. But for all that, and
I know this sounds unlikely, Albion had sufficient
chances to have got at least a draw.
Having a
laugh? No, quite seriously.
Mark
McCammon and Adam Virgo created
all sorts of problems for their back line, and Big Mac had four
clear headers from penetrating crosses
- at least one or two of which should
have been buried. Virgo notched a first half consolation through
chasing a lost cause, and one
particular right wing rampage from him resulted
in a magnificent cross which deserved a finish. Substitute Chris McPhee
hit the bar with a header that probably should
also have
been buried. And Dean Hammond's late header from Paul
Watson's
quick free kick demonstrated just how easily Wigan's defence
could be breached.
To
be honest I wasn't surprised to hear that Paul
Jewell
laid in to his team afterwards because if Brighton had shown the
same killer instinct as their scorers,
Wigan wouldn't have waltzed off with
the three points.
I think
you've absolutely hit the nail on the head about the players'
attitude. I'm convinced they felt
going into the Plymouth game that they
were almost home and dry. Now it's looking like the last bus might
have gone - and they're beginning to
dip their toes in the water!
Nick
Turrell
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