Wigan Athletic 2 Bury 1 - Saturday 20th September 1980

Tommy 'Hot-Shot' Gore fires Wigan to victory

Report by SJG

Granada TV football pundit Elton Welsby created a bit of a stir when he described the game as disappointing and apologised for having to feature the match. (Granada TV are by contract mandated to show a certain number of games from lower divisions).                                           

The game, in truth, drew a very healthy crowd and served up a decent spectacle for those watching as Wigan dug deep to record another win and climbed further up the table.                                    

The dependable Bob Ward came in for the injured John Brown in goal, but otherwise the team remained unchanged for this local derby with Houghton and Whittle remaining on the sidelines with injuries.

Wigan again failed to kill off the game despite having more than enough chances and McMullan spurned two good chances before the break, first attempting an ambitious pass inside when a shot was surely the right option, and then failing to get a meaningful touch to a low cross by Kettle with the Bury defences all at sea.               

Latics took the lead in the 32nd minute when Tony Quinn produced a precise cross that found the head of Tommy GORE and he headed firmly past the young Shakers keeper.                    

The Wigan defence looked somewhat uncertain in the early stages but gradually they settled and after Ward had saved well from Hilton and then Madden it was largely one way traffic with Curtis and Kettle having excellent games.

Half Time: Wigan Athletic 1 Bury 0

Wigan extended their lead on 56 minutes when the industrious Hutchinson was bundled over by the Bury defenders and GORE made no mistake from the resulting penalty kick.

Eight minutes later and the visitors were gifted a way back into the game when they were awarded a penalty of their own when Kettle tripped Mullen.

Steve JOHNSON stepped up and slammed home a fierce low shot that gave Ward no chance.                         

In the remaining minutes it was Latics who looked the more likely side to add to the score, with both Curtis and Tony Quinn being desperately unlucky with good efforts that had Neville Southall scrambling.

However, Bury also had their moments and the last ten minutes tested the nerves of the Wigan supporters as Johnson fired a drive against the Wigan post and the defence started to look somewhat desperate.

Full Time: Wigan Athletic 2 Bury 1