Wigan Athletic Ladies continued their recent free scoring form with another convincing victory over visitors Knotty Ash. Another landslide win looked on the cards as Wigan pressed from the off and should have opened the scoring within the first few moments but a host of missed chances and some resilient defending kept them at bay in the opening stages. It was only late in the game that the holes finally started to appear and Wigan took full advantage as their superior fitness, and the effects of defending for most of the 90 minutes, took their toll on the Knotty Ash players.

There was no doubting that Wigan were the better team from start to finish. The Latics defenders were untroubled for the majority of the first half, there was so little action in their half for the first 45 minutes that at one point a flock of seagulls landed and went in search of their lunch!

Despite all their pressure Wigan only managed to find the net twice before half time. The first came from a typically determined run from Alicia Cain into the box from the right wing. Her shot had the keeper beaten only to hit the far post, but Charlotte Benson showed a cool head to control the ball calmly on her chest before sidefooting into the empty net to break the deadlock. Nicol Meredith scored the second for the Latics after another run down the right; this time it was Simone Walley taking the ball to the byline before cutting it back for Meredith who beat the keeper on her near post from a tight angle.

Wigan should have had a handful more before the first half was over. Cain struck the post and the keeper saved one-on-one on more than a couple of occasions, as Wigan wasted glorious openings crafted by some great inter-passing through the midfield.

The half time team talk requested more of the same in terms of build up, but much improvement in the final third, and the forwards finally started to deliver. Despite knotty Ash playing much improved football in the second half and creating some attacks of their own, Latics added a further 4 goals in the second 45 as Benson and Meredith both completed their doubles, and substitute Carly Hutchinson added a brace of her own. Hutchinson’s first goal was the pick of the afternoon as she curled the ball around the keeper and into the top corner from outside the box.

Wigan’s composure on the ball and philosophy of passing their way around the pitch was too much for Knotty Ash in the end. In truth the home side should have hit double figures again today and Rita McHugh in the visitors goal was quite rightly awarded the player of the match for her valiant efforts which kept the score as low as it was.

Still Wigan can be proud of their recent form which has risen them to fourth in the table with the second best goal difference in the league trailing only to leaders St. Domingoe's after hitting the net 25 times in the last 3 matches and conceding only one goal from the penalty spot. Wigan Athletic Ladies must now maintain this form to keep the pressure on the teams above them.

Wigan followed up their 11 goal victory last week with another high scoring success against the team that was sitting 1 place above them in the table before today’s game. A superb display from 1to14 (including the substitutes!) left the home side with no chance of getting anything from the game as Wigan controlled from the first minute to the last. Alicia Cain scored half of the goals for the Latics after completing her hat trick in the first half, as Wigan scored 4 goals in each half to rise to 4th in the table.

Warrington started the brighter of the two teams and had a chance to take the lead in the very first minute after breaking down the right but Andrea Murray beat the Warrington centre forward to the cross to avoid the worst possible start. The home side were probing the Wigan defence with some useful long balls to the right wing but didn’t manage to profit from their early attacks and Wigan promptly took the ball into their half and scored the opener. Who else but Alicia Cain gave Wigan the lead which they never surrendered. Cain got her second after a break down the left split the home side wide open. 3 passes from the keepers hands into back of the Warrington net; Kelly Hutchinson and Charlotte Benson combining to create the opening for Cain who finished with a clinical strike from the edge of the box.

Warrington found some fight after going 2 down and pulled one back from the penalty spot after Anna Dempster was harshly adjudged to have handled in the box. The ball seemed to strike Dempster in the chest but the referee insisted that hands were involved. Warrington made no mistake from the spot as they pulled the score back to 2-1.

After such perceived injustice, Wigan were determined not to be pegged back any further and lifted their game even further. Cain completed her hat trick when Benson found her in acres of space on the edge of the box and she smashed the ball home. Just before half time, shortly after Warrington had had a free kick pushed over the bar by Murray to protect the lead, Cain returned the favour after battling for possession wide on the right and providing Benson with the opportunity to slide the ball past the advancing keeper, almost taking the ball of Nicol Meredith’s boot to provide the vital contact!

With a 4-1 half time lead, Wigan knew that one more goal would shatter the resistance of their opposition, who started the second half with renewed resolve. That was however until Wigan’s 3 second half substitutes all got their name on the scoresheet, and Cain added her fourth of the day to leave the home side shell-shocked. Kerryn Hill applied a deft touch to lob the keeper and find the net despite the efforts of the Warrington defender on the line, who could only volley the ball into the roof of her own net. Claire Rice forced the ball home shortly after Warrington failed to clear from a corner and Rice showed a cool head to find a gap in the defence despite having 5 bodies between her and the ball. Cain added the finishing touches to a great move down the right by firing the ball across the keeper into the bottom left hand corner, and Carly Hutchinson added the eighth with an almost carbon copy of Cain’s last goal, from the same position on the edge of the box to the same place in the far corner of the goal.

To give Warrington credit, they battled until the end and in the last 5 minutes hit the post and had 2 more efforts well saved, but in truth Wigan were good value for their win. Their passing and movement has improved week on week and high on confidence they will look to continue with their free-scoring play when they face Knotty Ash next Sunday.

14/10/07

Latics claimed another North West Premier League scalp as they recorded an enthralling victory on the west coast against a team who would have been expecting a victory from this game.

 A home victory looked well on the cards after the opening 30 minutes were dominated by the home team. Windscale attacked with great intent but found the Wigan defence in determined mood. They came within a posts width of opening the scoring after 15 minutes when Kay Whelan turned and shot from the edge of the box but saw her effort clip the top of the crossbar. Wigan were struggling with the physical approach of their hosts and spent the majority of the first half hour firmly on the back foot. When it came to the final third though, Windscale were frustrated over and over again by the retreating Wigan players as everyone dug deep to keep themselves in the game. The tide turned on the half hour mark when the game was stopped for treatment to a Windscale player with a cut lip; maybe a sign that Latics had finally started to stand up to the tactics of their opponents. The final 15 minutes of the first half were much more evenly contested and Wigan began to find ways to penetrate the home side with some telling runs down the right from Simone Walley and good hold up play from Alicia Cain and Kerryn Hill upfront.  When the half time whistle went with the score still nil a piece, the Latics players started to sense that the game was there for the winning. With a much more positive and aggressive approach, it was Wigan Athletic who controlled the game for the entire second half. Obviously expecting to be cruising by half time, the Windscale players seemed to lack the conviction that they had shown at the start of the game and Wigan were finding much more space in which to play. Cain saw a couple of chances to break the deadlock  well saved by the goalkeeper before Hayley Turner provided the opportunity for substitute Claire Rice to head home by floating in a teasing free kick which needed only the slightest of touches to beat the keeper. (N.B. there is a slight debate over the scorer of this goal! Claire ran away pointing to her head while Hayley wheeled away in celebration believing it had gone straight in! I was stood at the other end of the pitch so am unable to confirm either story… See Baz if you have any complaints!) Regardless of the scorer, Wigan were one up against all the odds and Windscale were visibly rocked. As they tried to find a way back into the match the home team shuffled the side and threw their centre half up front but the closest they came to scoring saw Rachel Taylor make a fantastic goal-line clearance showing no regard for her own safety as she slid full speed into the post to prevent the ball crossing the line after Andrea Murray had made an initial save to deny the home side. Following this further disappointment Wigan dealt the killer blow when third substitute Carly Hutchinson made a glorious return from her injury lay off by curling a beauty into the near post with the outside of her foot from 20 yards out on the right hand side. From what looked like an impossible angle she somehow managed to find the back of the net with a stunning strike which left the Latics players in a mixed state of shock and elation!  With a two goal lead and just 10 minutes left, Wigan were determined not to let anything slip and leave with not just a win but also a clean sheet against a team from the league above who had won by a healthy margin the last time the 2 teams had faced each other. They achieved this despite finishing the match with just 10 fit players after Cain fell awkwardly on the boggy surface and landed fully on her shoulder.  At the final whistle the Wigan players were delighted with both the result and the performance and can take great pride and confidence from the victory. Another great day for the club which continues to exceed everyone’s expectations… Except our own! Wigan Athletic face a home tie against Bolton Wanderers in the next round of the cup. Another Premier League side who we faced last year but who should be given a much tougher test this time around.

Wigan put in their best performance of the season against a previously unbeaten Penrith side to come away easy winners from a game they dominated from start to finish. Alicia Cain profited the most from some slick passing play right through the team by claiming a hat trick.

 Wigan made the journey up the M6 expecting a tough encounter but the battle they were prepared for never materialised. Wigan took an early lead after a pin-point cross from Simone Walley allowed Shaz Entwistle to produce a sublime first touch finish. Entwistle added a second and Cain slotted her first before half time to give Latics a comfortable 3-0 lead.   

Wigan’s passing play improved even further in the second half but Wigan were given a slight jolt when Penrith pulled one back from a breakaway before Cain added 2 more goals to make the journey home much easier to bear despite the roadworks on the motorway!