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The bottom of the table outfit were full value for their hard earned point after riding their luck against a Wigan side that failed to capture it's best form.
The much-travelled Gould, who has been with the relegation haunted club for just eight days, said: "I was delighted with the result and I think my reaction at the end said it all.
"Players were superb and stuck to the game plan right to the letter."Gould revealed that his plan involved marking Wigan's pacy winger Gary Teale and he said: "I watched Wigan at Mansfield and Teale frightened me.
"I knew we had to stop him getting the crosses in and we did that superbly. This result shows just what we are capable of, but we have to build on it for the rest of the season."Gould was grateful to keeper Steve Book for a string of super saves especially after the break. He produced a brilliant double stop to deny Nathan Ellington and Andy Liddell, but then could only watch as a Tony Dinning backheel was hacked off the line in a frantic finaleWigan boss Paul Jewell resigned himself to the fact that his team had an off day and said: "We did not play as well as we can, but we picked up a point and because of the other results going our way it proved to be a good point.
"We played better in the second half but did not get the breaks although you have to make your own luck and we were a long way from our best."Jewell was pleased with the form of new signing Jimmy Bullard who joined the club from Peterborough this week in a £275,000 deal.
Bullard looked likely and won the man of the match award an Jewell said: "He will be a real asset once he settles into the team. He's going to be a good player and we are lucky to have signed him."Wigan are still 12 points clear of second placed Crewe and a healthy 14 points clear of third-placed Oldham. Jewell added: "There will be no easy games between now and the end of the season as this has proved.
"This was a real coupon buster, but both the players and myself were not complacent. In the end I am pleased that we kept a clean sheet and you cannot win every game."
Player Ratings.
John Filan - 6
Nicky Eaden - 6
Peter Kennedy - 6
Jason De Vos - 7
Matt Jackson - 6
Gary Teale - 8
Jimmy Bullard - 8
Tony Dinning - 7
Paul Mitchell - 5
Nathan Ellington - 6
Andy Liddell - 5
Subs
Neil Roberts - 6
Steve McMillan - 5
Updated League Table
| Last game played on Saturday 1st February 2003 | Pld | Home | Away | Overall | Pts | GD | |||||||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | |||||||||
| 1 | Wigan Athletic | 30 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 26 | 11 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 23 | 7 | 21 | 6 | 3 | 49 | 18 | 69 | +31 | ||||
| 2 | Crewe Alexandra | 29 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 30 | 14 | 17 | 6 | 6 | 48 | 22 | 57 | +26 | ||||
| 3 | Oldham Athletic | 30 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 25 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 21 | 12 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 46 | 26 | 55 | +20 | ||||
| 4 | Cardiff City | 28 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 27 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 14 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 45 | 24 | 54 | +21 | ||||
| 5 | Bristol City | 29 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 25 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 28 | 22 | 15 | 7 | 7 | 53 | 32 | 52 | +21 | ||||
| 6 | Queens Park Rangers | 29 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 23 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 14 | 17 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 37 | 32 | 46 | +5 | ||||
Other Pleasant Results.
Premiership
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Both these teams have been defeated by the Latics this season but our dearly beloved Manchester firends will not be celebrating this defeat against a then bottom club West Brom.
Bolton 4 - 2 Birmingham
Steve Bruce's side fell deeper into the relegation mire after this defeat to lowly Bolton, who made up three points on the blues. Birmingham's next three games are Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool. See you next year Steve.
Division 2
Blackpool 0 - 0 Bristol City
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Crewe 3 - 3 Northampton
The Alex were held up by lowly Northampton Town in their bid for the second spot. Another team which has falied to capilise on our draw.
Cardiff 1 - 1 Oldham
Two more promotion chasing clubs who fought out a draw, yet again meaning no ground was made up in our hunt for the title.
Division 3
Bournemouth 2 - 1 Boston Utd
A strange one to be included here but you have to take into account that former Latics "player" Neil Redfearn helped Bournemouth on their way with a goal at the wrong end for Boston!
Rushden 1 - 1 Swansea
Roberto Martinez got his first decent result playing for new club Swansea live on sky. Will his influence be enough to steer them clear of relegation?
Scotland
Hearts 3 - 0 Dunfirmline
Ged Brannan settled into his new home very well. They lost 3-0!
External Reports.
Ananova
Teamtalk
Manchester Online