A Nathan Ellington goal 11 minutes into the second half of a pulsating encounter brought Wigan their first home victory in Division One at the expense of highly fancied Ipswich Town.
Wigan's record signing, who has been out of action for four months, bagged his second goal in two games with an instinctive flick from Jason Jarrett's mishit shot to wrong-foot Ipswich keeper Kelvin Davis to give the home side a deserved lead.
In a match full of flowing football, the lead was nothing less than Wigan deserved as they had mastered their opponents almost from the first whistle.
Ipswich keeper Davis produced two stunning first-half saves to deny Jimmy Bullard and Ellington while Andy Liddell's close-range effort was disallowed.
After the break, Wigan kept up the tempo and Daves again came to his side's rescue with saves again from Ellington, Peter Kennedy and substitute Mark Burchill.
But it was far from one-way traffic and at the other end Wigan keeper John Filan stood firm in the face of some fierce Ipswich pressure in the latter stages.
He produced tremendous stops from Jermaine Wright and Marcus Bent and when he was beaten by substitute Pablo Counago, defender Ian Breckin made a desperate goal-line clearance.
Wigan might have added a second in the closing stages when substitute Burchill broke clear of the visiting defence only to see his fierce drive parried by Davis.
Wigan Athletic
John Filan 8
Nicky Eaden 7
Steve McMillan 6
Matt Jackson 8
Ian Breckin 8
Andy Liddell 7
Peter Kennedy 8
Jason Jarrett 8
Jimmy Bullard 8
Nathan Ellington 8
Neil Roberts 6
SUBS: Yeomans, Mitchell (Kennedy 80), Dinning (McMillan 87), Teale, Burchill (Ellington 76)
Ipswich Town
Kelvin Davis 7
Fabian Wilnis 7
Chris Makin 6
Richard Naylor 7
Drissa Diallo 8
Thomas Miller 6
Jermaine Wright 6
Jim Magilton 5
Richards 6
Marcus Bent 7
Darren Bent 6
SUBS: Price, Counago (Darren Bent 46), Bowditch (Richards 61), Santos, Westlake (Miller 71)
Referee
Trevor Parkes - Poor. He had a decent first half, but lost consistency in the second and seemed to drift off onto a different planet at times. 2/5.
The Managers
Paul Jewell: "I thought we played high tempo, good football, defended well in front of ourselves, and I thought we fully deserved the three points. I thought we played well for the full ninety minutes.
Joe Royle: "Wigan over-ran us, especially in midfield where we had put three in to counter their two.
"It is not about formations it is about personnel; people are not doing what is asked from them and that will have to change.
"That was by far the worst performance since I have been at Ipswich and it was not acceptable. Fair enough we had chances towards the end but if we had have nicked a point from them it would have been a travesty.
"I felt sorry for the supporters who travelled and tried to get behind us but even from six yards with the keeper to beat we can't score.
"But it was not just the forwards, you can't blame them."
Last Night's Results
Tuesday 26th August 2003 | ||||||||
Barclaycard Premiership | ||||||||
Charlton Athletic | (1) | 2 | Everton | (1) | 2 | 26,366 | ||
Leeds United | (0) | 0 | Southampton | (0) | 0 | 34,721 | ||
Portsmouth | (0) | 4 | Bolton Wanderers | (0) | 0 | 20,113 | ||
Leicester City | (0) | 0 | Middlesbrough | (0) | 0 | 30,823 | ||
Nationwide League Division One | ||||||||
Stoke City | (0) | 0 | Millwall | (0) | 0 | 13,087 | ||
Norwich City | (2) | 3 | Wimbledon | (0) | 2 | 16,082 | ||
Crystal Palace | (0) | 1 | Sheffield United | (2) | 2 | 15,466 | ||
Wigan Athletic | (0) | 1 | Ipswich Town | (0) | 0 | 8,292 | ||
West Ham United | (1) | 1 | Bradford City | (0) | 0 | 30,370 | ||
Natiowide League Division Two | ||||||||
Colchester United | (0) | 2 | Bristol City | (0) | 1 | 3,079 | ||
Nationwide League Division Three | ||||||||
Mansfield Town | (2) | 5 | Scunthorpe United | (0) | 0 | 5,142 | ||
York City | (1) | 2 | Southend United | (0) | 0 | 4,202 | ||
Nationwide Conference | ||||||||
Chester City | (1) | 2 | Shrewsbury Town | (0) | 1 | 4,665 | ||
Nrth West Cnts Div.Two | ||||||||
Holker Old Boys | (0) | 5 | Nelson | (0) | 0 | |||
UEFA Champions League | ||||||||
3rd Qualifying Round 2nd Leg | ||||||||
Chelsea | (1) | 3 | Zilina (SVK) | (0) | 0 | 23,408 | ||
Bells Scottish Challenge Cup | ||||||||
Quarter-Final | ||||||||
Inverness Caledonian Thistle | (0) | 1 | Ross County | (0) | 0 | 2,631 | ||
Forfar Athletic | (0) | 0 | Airdrie United | (0) | 2 | 752 | ||
Raith Rovers | (2) | 3 | St. Mirren | (1) | 2 | 1,949 | ||
St. Johnstone | (0) | 1 | Brechin City | (2) | 2 | 1,919 |
League Table
Last game played on Tuesday 26th August 2003 | Pld | Home | Away | Overall | Pts | GD | |||||||||||||||||
W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | |||||||||
1 | Crystal Palace | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 9 | +3 | ||||
2 | West Bromwich Albion | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 9 | +2 | ||||
3 | Reading | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 8 | +4 | ||||
4 | Stoke City | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 8 | +4 | ||||
5 | Millwall | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 8 | +3 | ||||
6 | Sheffield United | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | +2 | ||||
7 | Norwich City | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 7 | +2 | ||||
8 | Cardiff City | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 7 | +2 | ||||
9 | Wigan Athletic | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 7 | +1 | ||||
10 | West Ham United | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | +1 | ||||
11 | Crewe Alexandra | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 0 | ||||
12 | Sunderland | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 6 | +1 | ||||
13 | Walsall | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 5 | +2 | ||||
14 | Rotherham United | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | -1 | ||||
15 | Gillingham | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -2 | ||||
16 | Bradford City | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | ||||
17 | Wimbledon | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 3 | -2 | ||||
18 | Nottingham Forest | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | -2 | ||||
19 | Burnley | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 3 | -3 | ||||
20 | Coventry City | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||||
21 | Ipswich Town | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | -2 | ||||
22 | Preston North End | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 1 | -4 | ||||
23 | Derby County | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 1 | -7 | ||||
24 | Watford | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | -4 |
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