The sun's finally shining down at Gawthorpe

The pitch was heavy and bobbly and both sides began with similar, full-blooded intentions. The Wigan physio was on the pitch before the first minute had elapsed to treat their forward, who came off worst in a 50/50 challenge with Tom Blackler. This was to be the first of many heavy challenges in the game.

It was a scrappy affair with very little quality play in the opening half hour. Our best effort came when McDonald skipped past two tackles on the right to fire in a hard cross for Rob Turner who, under pressure at the near post, couldn't turn it home. Wigan were unfortunate not to take the lead as they broke through our back line, only to be denied by Jon Sergeant and then the post, as the striker took two bites a the cherry.

When the deadlock was broken it happened suddenly and certainly not with the run of play. We strung some passes together on the left hand side and moved the ball across the edge of the box, finding the unmarked Ash Young, who fired in under the keeper. It was almost a carbon copy of the goal scored by Wade Elliott last week.

The second half had barely begun when McDonald was forced from the pitch after failing to recover from the effects of studs on his ankle, sustained in the first half. The trouble he was causing down the flanks had seen him targeted but the ref preferred to let the game flow when we were getting hammered.

Ali Akbar replaced McDonald and picked up where he left off. We were trying to play football but were being hindered by a poor performance by the ref. We conceded free-kicks for unfathomable reasons while our visitors went unpunished for clear indiscretions.

We rode our luck when Wigan found the back of the net only to see it chalked off for offside. Our coaching staff certainly let the lads know their feeling on the ragged line we had held, and it was swiftly sorted. Our attempts to play saw the visitors become more frustrated though and this led to us creating chances in abundance.

Hoskin was unlucky to roll a shot just wide of the post when Kay had worked a good opening and Turner broke free but was denied by a last ditch challenge. The pressure finally paid off with a classy goal to extend our lead. Neat work by Akbar and Turner saw the ball dinked into the path of the unmarked Rodriguez, who calmly lobbed the onrushing keeper.

Wigan could have pulled one back but Sergeant made a top notch save at his near post and the game was won.

Team:- Jon Sergeant, Ben Hoskin, Thomas Bradley, Tom Blackler, Craig Lynch, Alex McDonald (Ali Akbar), Connor Smith, Ash Young, Jay Rodriguez, Adam Kay (Chris Anderson), Rob Turner (Alex-Ray Harvey). Sub not used:- Lewis Craig.

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