24 April 1999 Wigan
4 Reading 1 |
|
Howie;
Maybury, Casper, Bernal, Gray; Glasgow, Parkinson, Caskey, Brebner, McLaren;
Scott.
?
|
1-0 WIGAN take the lead 3-0 WIGAN put themselves three in front 3-1 MCLAREN scores his first Reading goal 4-1 WIGAN restore their goal margin... |
Alex was one of the unlucky Reading fans to turn up to witness our latest pathetic performance:
Reading got off to a shaky start, and it cost them soon into the match. The Wigan winger, who got tons of space all game, ran down the left got past Gray and whipped in a low ball tight to the goal line. Despite the presence of Skippy, Rogers was still able to stoop low and nod home from about a yard out, at the near post. No wonder Scottie was furious. The defending was poor for the whole game, and Maybury was having a mare at right-back. That said, I don't think anyone really deserves praise for defending - even Parky was quiet by his standards. Too often we allowed the player to drop off his marker, or didn't pick up a run. Worst of all, though, was the absolute heart-stopping defending when the ball was in the box. Too often it took two or three defenders to actually get the ball out of the box, let alone up the field, with the ball ricocheting all over the place. It was from a situation like this that Barlow scored his foirst of the match, picking up a loose ball on the edge of the box and wellying it through a crowd and over Scottie. 2-0 down and only 15 minutes gone, things were looking too easy for Wigan.
Reading didn't really pick up much either. We had a couple of half chances, with any brief flickers of good play coming down the left when McLaren and Gray combined. However, despite a spooner over the top and a mis-hit that bobbled dangerously, Reading never looked like creating a goal. Wigan, on the other hand, were strolling in the sun, and Barlow soon notched their third of the match, with only 24 minutes gone. Barlow was sent through on goal, easily out paced Casper - the only defender near him, waited for Scottie to make a move off his line, and thn neatly lobbed him from 25 yards. After this the two teams settled down - Wigan into controlling the ball and looking dangerous, Reading into being jumpy and defending terribly. The Latics should have made it four when a forward was allowed to break through one on one with Howie. He waited till he was inside the box, but the angle was still too tight and he hammered the ball of the post.
Into the second half and
Reading made a change during the break - swapping the anonymous Brebner for
Ray Houghton. For a while it seemed as if the half time team talk had done its
job, as the boys actually picked things up. McLaren took the defenders on a
couple of times and actually got past them. However, same old story, there was
never anyone vaguely close to get onto
his crosses. During one of his stints down the left, the right back was beaten
by a neat drag back, and his two footed tackle brought Andy crashing to the
ground. No card, much to the anger of the fans. This was the refs only (slight)
mistake of the game in my opinion.
There was certainly no complaints from me a minute later. The resulting free kick from McLaren's foul had been crossed in (and as usual wasted). The header from defence went straight to a forward's feet and, seeing an almost empty pitch ahead of him, he charged downfield. Across came Casper from the centre circle but he was down for pace, so reached out an arm and dragged the man down, picking up a yellow for his efforts. Reading eventually capitalised on their improved play when McLaren got on the end of a Houghton cross to nod over the keeper from a very acute angle. The celebrations were short lived though. Just two minutes later and Greenall finished off Wigan's scoring, belting home yet another loose ball in the box. They could have had another, as they hit the post yet again. Barras replaced Casper (not sure if he was injured or just shote), and Brayson replaced Glasgow late on, but it was all far too late.
Overall, we were dire. Howie played well, considering there was absolutely nothing in front of him. He still made a couple of very good saves, to keep the score line down. The defending was shambolic. Skippy was solid and dependable, but he just doesn't have the pace or the talent for a four man defence. Casper was really anonymous and looked to struggle. The general conclussion was that he is a sweeper not a centre-back. Gray had an OK game going forward, but he was isolated too often in defence. Not always his fault, for the first goal at least he was eft marking two players because the midfield weren't tracking back. Maybury, I'm afraid, was just utter pants and I hope the rumour that we've bid for him turns out to be false.
Going forward, I think we just missed a pacy, talnented striker. At times (particularly in the second half) we produced some really patient passing football. Had there been someone on the end of those final balls it might have been different. As it is, Scott never had the pace to trouble the Wigan defence, and being alone up front he was in their pocket the whole match. Caskey was busy, but unable to make much of an influence. He had one good freekick - central about 30 yards out - which was looping into the far corner, but the keeper got a hand to it. Houghton made a bit of a difference when he came on. Although he took a lot of pace out of the midfield, he gave us an extra passing option (Brebner was having a mare too), and started the move that led to the goal. Byron was pretty anonymous too.
On the whole, I think we lost as a team - individually only Maybury had an aweful game but collectively we were unco-ordinated and clueless. The main factor, though, was a definite lack of passion. I could accept losing 4-1 if the players charged round, never gave up and actually gave a shit. Instead, they came out expecting to lose, and when we conceeded so early the heads dropped immediately. There seems to be a total lack of morale or confidence just now. All we can hope is that over the summer tthey chill out and come back with a clean slate next year looking to do something this time.
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