Roberts brace sinks Pilgrims

Report by John Patrick Heeley

Jason Roberts made up for missing a first half sitter by grabbing two goals in the second period to preserve Wigan Athletic's unbeaten start to the season with his brace securing all three points at Plymouth Argyle's Home Park.

Had Roberts taken the advice of his doctor following surgery to repair damaged ligaments in his finger then he wouldn't have even been on the field for the game but fortunately, thanks to some heavy bandaging, he lined up for his 27th game in a Wigan shirt to take his tally to an impressive 18 goals since his £1.4 million move from West Brom.

Latics were again missing Per Frandsen, Gary Teale, Matt Jackson and Jason Jarrett which left Paul Jewell with a stretched squad ahead of the game but thankfully Nicky Eaden was passed fit after struggling with injury prior to the long trip to the South West coast.

The kick off itself was delayed for 30 minutes due to a faulty fire alarm in the ground but that didn't seem to have put off the Championship leaders who were pretty much in control for large parts of the game.

The home side had the first goalscoring opportunity of note when Nathan Lowndes, making his first start of the season, fired over the bar from close range in the opening few minutes after John Filan had spilled a Stevie Crawford effort.

The action quickly switched to the other end of the park with David Graham forcing Mattias Doumbe into conceding the game's first corner kick.

Jimmy Bullard then found Lee McCulloch with the resultant flag kick but the newly capped Scottish international sent his header wide of the upright from 6 yards out.

Ian Breckin also went close from a similar distance but his header went the same way as McCulloch's who had also earlier tried his luck but his shot had also flown wide of the mark.

Wigan really should have been a goal to the good around the half hour mark bit with a gaping goal in front of him Jason Roberts nodded Nathan Ellington's back post cross against the woodwork when it seemed an impossibility to miss following great work from his partner in crime who'd latched onto a long ball forward from Nicky Eaden before jinking his way towards the byeline to get his ball in.

Crawford saw a shot blocked out by Breckin a few minutes later as The Pilgrims attempted to make their mark on the game and the Scottish international missed the target from the corner of the penalty area as the opening half drew to a close.

No changes were made by either manager during the break but Nathan Lowndes was replaced up front by Micky Evans only 6 minutes after the restart but not before Roberts had seen a close range effort saved by Larrieu.

However Wigan finally had the ball in the back of the net minutes later.

Filan's dead ball kick was nodded forward by Ellington and JASON ROBERTS took it forward, shrugged of the challenge of former Paris Saint-Germain defender Matthias Doumbe and looped the ball over the advancing Larrieu from 12 yards out.

Paul Jewell replaced Nicky Eaden just after the hour mark with the former Barnsley and Birmingham City defender struggling with an earlier knock.

Wigan's second goal had somewhat of a bit of good fortunce about it but the build up was out of the top drawer to say the least.

David Graham took up the attack from halfway, leaving David Worrell in his wake he charged forward and sent the ball out to the left where Ellington found himself in acres of space.

The Duke then raced into the area beat Plymouth's David Norris and Paul Connolly as if they weren't there and had a crack on goal.

However, with his effort looking as if it was going towards the corner flag JASON ROBERTS found himself in the right place at the right time to send the ball home off his back.

Latics seemed to be strolling but the home side showed their determination, the never say die attitude which had earned them all three points in their last game against Gillingham when they grabbed two goals in injury time after trailing for most of the second half.

David Norris forced Filan into a desperate save at the foot of the near post, the 23-year-old midfielder getting his head on the end of a cleverly placed ball over the top from the left wing leaving the Aussie to push it behind for a corner.

From the resultant flag kick Bobby Williamson's side eventually pulled a goal back through sheer persistance which paved the way for a nerve wracking finale to the afternoon's proceedings.

Lee Makel swung the ball over to the near post where it deflected back out to Makel out on the wing.

The former Newcastle United midfielder then played it to Norris on the edge of the penalty area who turned Leighton Baines before knocking the ball over to the back post.

Emerson Thome, who'd been impressive throughout, cleared away from the goal line but McCulloch's attempted punt upfield was charged down with a more than a hint of handball.

David Friio collected the loose ball and sent it over to the back post where Micky Evans nodded back across goal and STEVIE CRAWFORD launched himself forward to head home his fourth goal of the season and give his side just over 10 minutes to salvage something from the game.

Plymouth huffed and puffed for the final few minutes in a bid to deny Wigan the victory which would see them regain top spot after Reading, QPR and Ipswich all picked up points to rise above them with their games finishing earlier.

However, Wigan also had their chances to finish the game off once and for all but in the end neither side created enough to find the net again before the final whistle.

A Wigan victory was a deserved one and left Paul Jewell relieved after his side had previously failed to win on their travels since their trip to West Ham in mid August.