"I thought the referee was inept today," said Wigan's manager Paul Jewell. "But we weren't too far behind." Wigan have had a tough programme and a busy Easter but it is difficult to find excuses for Mike Thorpe's performance. After waving off any amount of clattering and holding in the first half, he got savage. In the last 25 minutes he showed eight cards, sent off Jason Roberts and Jason Jarrett and granted Palace the free-kick from which they equalised.
Wayne Routledge refused an opportunity to cross in favour of an extra touch that invited Paul Mitchell's tackle.The full-back made solid contact with the ball, the nearby linesman signalled a throw-in but Thorpe surprised everybody by awarding Palace a free-kick. This time Routledge crossed just beyond the far post and Danny Granville scored with about the only attacking header Palace won all game.
Jarrett's sending-off in the fifth minute of injury-time for a second foul on Dougie Freedman looked almost as unjust. Even Palace's manager Iain Dowie thought it was excessive. Or that is what we understood him to mean when he said: "You can get sent off in Question of Sport these days."
"This referee I think was swayed by the crowd," Jewell said. "He was a homer but I have to be careful." In 32 games this season Thorpe has sent off eight players, three of them from Wigan. Admittedly they are not the most genteel of teams when it comes to protecting their goal. They are the second most penalised side in the division, after Millwall, and they are now way ahead in red cards received with 11 in 43 games.
On this performance they are also some way short of promotion material, even by the relaxed standards of recent First Division seasons. "There was no spark," Jewell admitted. They are short of flair and grace, keeping a rigid shape behind their athletic million-pound-plus strikers.
Roberts was much the livelier of the two yesterday, but Nathan "Duke " Ellington scored the goal with virtually his only coherent touch, when for once he deserted the point of the attack and found room to turn. Palace should have put the game out of reach but they blooped nine of their 12 shots into the crowd. Under Dowie they have raised a strong finishing gallop - 36 points in 19 games - but it may just fall short of the play-offs.
Both these teams are at home to Sunderland next: Palace on Wednesday, Wigan on Saturday. If Dowie is right that 76 points will be needed to qualify for the play-offs, Palace have to win all their last four games and Wigan cannot afford to lose.
Man of the match:Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace).
Source: The Guardian.
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