Report by John Patrick Heeley

If there was an Olympic event for lacking heart and passion then most of the Wigan Athletic team would be contenders for a gold medal.

I try my best to be objective in these reports and not be too scathing on the side when they put in a poor display, which to be honest seems to be a regular occurrence these days.

However, in over 27 years of watching Wigan Athletic I cannot recall ever seeing them field a side that looked so disinterested in the game and also I don't think I have ever seen a poorer game of football for a long time.

Perhaps fans of Wigan Athletic have been spoiled with the past two or three seasons and this year, when we are faced with the stark reality of possible relegation, it hurts more than it ever did before.

Perhaps they'll pull themselves out of this rut and climb to a respectable mid table postion by New Year and be challenging for a play off spot come April.

Nah, forget the last one as there's more chance of Cat Deeley banging on my door asking to borrow a cup of sugar.

You see that's the level of optimism that has been instilled in the average Wigan Athletic fan over the past four months or so.

When you pay your money and actually expect to see your side lose week in, week out then there has to be something sadly wrong.

There were even plenty of fans that could see the Canvey Island defeat coming a mile off. Where did it all go wrong?

Wigan did create chances to be fair and the above might seem a bit over the top but the chances they did have went begging for various reasons and they never really looked like scoring but neither did their opposition, Chesterfield, who seemed hell bent on stopping Wigan from playing football and looked content with their fifth draw on their travels in the league.

Neither side could get a proper grip on the game in the first half but Wigan could have broke the deadlock after 17 minutes when Lee McCulloch nodded down a cross from Scott Green, finding Tony Dinning only for Wigan's record signing to boot it well over the bar from the edge of the area.

Two minutes later Paul Dalglish raced down the right wing before pull a low ball back across the middle of the Chesterfield penalty area, begging for someone to stick it in the back of the net but of course there was no Wigan players around to oblige and the ball went sailing out to safety.

After 21 minutes the action switched to the left wing with Lee Ashcroft, sporting a new haircut, charging down the line and then launching a ball to the far post in an attempt to find Dalglish at the far post former Luton Town keeper Nathan Abbey had the measure of the ball and stretched to pluck the ball out of the air, denying the Scottish midfielder.

Andy Liddell then dodged a tackle just inside the Wigan half before breaking free down the middle and as he charged forward he had Dalglish in support to his right but as the defenders came in to challenge Liddell he attempted to supply a ball to the far post for Dalglish only for it to go beyond him and behind for a goal kick.

The action then switched to the other end of the field with Welsh midfielder David D'Auria getting the better of Kenna to swing a ball into the middle of the 6 yard box from the byeline forcing De Zeeuw to head behind to safety.

With half an hour on the clock Dalglish received the ball on the right of the area but his shot from feet out sailed straight across the middle of the penalty area and away to safety.

D'Auria then upended Ashcroft conceding a free kick but was booked for kicking the ball away after the referee's whistle had been blown.

Matt Jackson, in his first game for the club since signing a 2 ½ year contract earlier in the day, wasted a golden opportunity when the ball was nodded down to him at the far post from the resulting free kick.

Within two minutes Chesterfield created another chance but David Reeves blasted well off target after D'Auria had headed down to him clear at the edge of the box and a minute later it was Reeves' turn again to test Stillie's goal but he stabbed at his shot from the edge of the area leaving the Wigan keeper with very little to do.

Probably the biggest highlight of the first half came in the 42nd minute when Abbey was forced out of his area to chase a fumbled ball.

Lee Ashcroft spied a chance and went wading in and looked to have got the ball cleanly with a well timed tackle.

However Abbey wasn't too pleased with the attention he had received from the Wigan striker and squared up to him.

The referee booked the pair of them but Ashcroft needed to be replaced by Kennedy as he limped from the field with an injury picked up in the challenge.

Andy Liddell rounded off the first half with a shot blasted wide from 15 yards out.

The second half wasn't much better even considering the two goals and did little to stir the smallest league crowd ever at the JJB Stadium of only 4,107 (a sign of the times maybe?).

The first half chance fell to Wigan after 53 minutes when Dalglish and Dinning had combined well to set up Scott Green only for him to send his header well over the bar and 2 minutes later Dalglish was again involved when his cross to the centre of the Chesterfield penalty area was met by Lee McCulloch but under pressure the best he could do with the ball was to send it straight at Abbey.

Kenna blasted one over the bar from over 20 yards out before Liddell tested the Chesterfield keeper with a low drive as the game approached the hour mark.

Minutes later Dinning nodded a short ball to Dalglish who had acres of space but could only manage to again sky the shot on goal and then Wigan had a penalty turned down when Kenna played a neat one-two in the area before finding himself chewing the grass.

Transfer listed Luke Beckett was unlucky in the 65th minute after the ball was nodded down to him from a cross from the right by loan midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger but it was Wigan who drew first blood a minute later when Andy Liddell split two defenders with a ball into the area and in the panic ROB EDWARDS fumbled the ball into the back of the net.

It took all of 5 minutes for the visitor's to reply and reply in style they did too. JONATHAN HOWARD had only been on the pitch 4 minutes when he picked up the ball 25 yards out and hit a thunderous shot into the back of the net leaving Stillie with no chance.

The Spirites then sat back and soaked up everything that was presented to them, limiting the home side into a few half chances including one which came one minute after the equalising goal when Haworth flicked a header onto the roof of the net from 5 yards out.

Minutes later work between Brannan and Liddell located Dalglish down on the right wing but with the trio racing forward Dalglish sent in a low ball which evaded everybody to go sailing off across the face of the penalty area.

Liddell then won a challenge on the Chesterfield touchline to keep the ball from going out for a deadball and a clever little back heel gave Kennedy the opportunity to send the ball across goal which Dinning duely sent into ROW Z.

The game dragged itself to it's conclusion with only a brief threat from the visitors when David Reeves and Thomas Hitzlsperger played a clever little one two inside the Wigan penalty area but seemed to hesitate giving Wigan the chance to clean up.

The Blackpool referee blew full-time at the end of the three minutes of stoppage time and just as the finish of so many games this season the Wigan Athletic side were booed from the field as the fans voice their upset and dismay.