Report by John Patrick Heeley

It seemed so easy. Win two games and Division One here we come. How wrong could one be!

Wrexham came to Wigan and the JJB Stadium having never beaten Latics in seven previous league meetings and with nothing to play for except their Welsh pride and returned home with the three points Wigan so badly needed in their bid to guarantee automatic promotion and the First Division for the first time in their history.

In a first half more or less completely dominated by Wrexham, WIgan were lucky to be only one goal down as the Welshmen looked dangerous on the break, creating one opportunity after the other and managed to force eight corners in the opening 45 minutes.

Wigan have now not scored from open play for the past five games and you would have to back to April 8th when a brace from Simon Haworth against Oxford at the JJB separated the two sides.

Wigan, however, did nearly put their noses in front on 9 minutes when Terry Cooke broke clear down the right wing after Neil Roberts' younger brother Stephen misjudged a long punt down the line, allowing the former Wrexham loan man to race past him and clear on goal.

With only Wrexakm keeper Kevin Dearden to beat Cooke managed to blast his shot over the bar and into the crowd, much to the delight of the Welsh fans behind that goal.

A couple of minutes later Wrexham charged upfield and applied the killer punch.

Martyn Chalk raced down the left, put in a low cross to the middle of Wigan's penalty area, Kevin Russell stepped over the ball and former Wigan target Karl Connolly fired a first time shot in from only a few yards out.

The goal failed to give Wigan the kick up the behind they needed and instead they appeared to have the stuffing knocked out of them.

Wrexham, on the other hand, found an extra gear and pushed forward for more just to rub salt into the wound.

A corner taken by Sir Alex Ferguson's son Darren found Stephen Roberts' head and forced Derek Stillie in the Wigan goal to tip over the bar for another corner.

Ferguson himself had opportunities that went begging after twice being put through on goal in the space of five minutes.

He was first denied by de Zeeuw who managed to time his tackle perfectly and then by Stillie who got down well to take the ball from Ferguson's feet.

Wrexham's keeper made a brilliant save at the other end of the pitch from Terry Cooke's first time volley.

Cooke was then substituted after 30 minutes as Wigan manager John Benson brought on Roberto Martinez in a tactical swap.

The Wigan fans were not too happy with the substitution and made their opinions known to the bench. Cooke himself was actually seen leaving the stadium early.

Stillie was called upon twice before the interval, firstly diving at Russell's feet and secondly producing a fine diving save to push the ball around the post from a McGregor effort.

Half Time: Wigan 0 Wrexham 1

Wigan came out in the second half with a second substitution. Kevin Nicholls was replaced by former Wrexham striker Neil Roberts and started with a three man forward line in an attempt to save the game and with it their hopes of automatic promotion.

The change certainly improved their performance and Wigan created more scoring opportunities.

With less than five minutes of the half played Andy Liddell broke down the rifht hand side of the field and pulled a ball back for Jeff Peron from the edge of the box.

Peron's shot seemed to be handled by a Wrexham defender as it was deflected behind but despite the loud appeals from both Wigan players and fans the Hertfordshire referee pointed to the corner.

Liddell then had a shot blocked by Carey, his effort deflected behind for another corner.

It was Liddell again just after the hour who found Neil Roberts in the area but his header went just wide of the post.

Wrexham immediately went upfield and nearly doubled their lead when substitute Andy Morrell, on for goalscorer Connolly, broke down the right flank and sqaured his pass to Kevin Russell inside the area.

His shot beat Stillie only to find Stuart Balmer who blocked the effort on the line.

Pat McGibbon was introduced to the action on 73 minutes, replacing skipper Carl Bradshaw. McGibbon took his place in the defence and de Zeeuw was pushed forward to give a bit of extra height and strength to the forward line.

In the closing stages de Zeeuw went close with a powerful header from a Liddell free kick and Liddell and McGibbon both had chances as Latics tried in vain to get something from the game.

Referee Keith Hill blew the whistle to end the game and with it seemed to go Latics' chance of avoiding the dreaded lottery of the play offs for the second successive season.

To say the Wigan fans left the stadium dejected is a massive understatement and with results elsewhere not going Wigan's way they must now travel south to the Dorset coast next Saturday and beat Bournemouth at Dean Court hoping that Burnley and Gillingham both lose.

This scenario seems very unlikely and it appears that the play-offs are Wigan's last hope of salvaging anything from a season that promised so much but could present them with so little.

Mind you the way Wigan have been playing of late the second division looms ominously for another season at least.

Down to Bournemouth it is and a few optimistic crossed fingers and earpieces firmly planted in many an ear.