Report by SJG

FRIENDLY

ACCRINGTON STANLEY vs WIGAN ATHLETIC

19^th July 2022

BOTH SIDES DRAW A BLANK IN THE SUMMER HEAT.

On the hottest day of the year, with temperatures reaching 30C Wigan made the short trip to the Wham stadium in Accrington to continue their pre-season preparations.

In a competitive outing for Leam Richardson’s side, the visitors came the closest through efforts in each half from Jack Whatmough, Will Keane and Jason Kerr, though the honours remained even at the Wham Stadium. 

Latics arrived at Accrington on the back of winning all four of their pre-season fixtures against Bamber Bridge, Bolton Wanderers, Liverpool and Oldham Athletic, and it was the visitors who were the first to go close to scoring inside the opening two minutes. Tom Naylor started the free-flowing move by releasing Joe Bennett into space, and Bennett set it back to Max Power who found Charlie Wyke at the far post, but the forward could only glance his header wide.

Wyke’s early chance set the tone for the opening exchanges, and Latics almost broke the deadlock in the eighth minute. Power’s corner was attacked by Jack Whatmough at the far post, and his header looked destined to loop into the back of the net, but he was eventually denied by an excellent piece of last-ditch defending to clear it off the line.

Latics continued to apply the pressure during the infancy of the encounter, and James McClean was the next to threaten when he curled a low free-kick towards goal from 20 yards out, but his effort was palmed away by Stanley goalkeeper Toby Savin.

Just four minutes later, Whatmough was presented with another huge opportunity to give Latics the lead when he arrived to meet McClean’s deep delivery at the far post, but the central defender unfortunately blasted his effort onto the crossbar from point-blank range.

The chances kept on coming for Richardson’s men, and McClean was again at the heart of the action after he lined up a shot from 25 yards out, but his dipping effort was tipped over the crossbar by Savin. From the resulting corner, Curtis Tilt climbed the highest to meet McClean’s precise cross but his header went wide of the far post.

After soaking up an extended period of pressure from the visitors, John Coleman’s side had their first real sighting on goal when Cored Adedoyin found half a yard to shoot on the edge of the area, but his effort was well blocked by Tilt before it could potentially trouble Jamie Jones in the Latics goal.

The final chance of the action-packed first period fell the way of Latics when Wyke superbly offloaded the ball to Will Keane who showed great feet to get his shot away inside the congested penalty area, but his eventual effort rolled agonisingly wide of the post. 

Half Time; Accrington Stanley 0-0 Wigan Athletic.

Latics started the second half in the same manner that they finished the first, and Power went close when he latched onto Tendayi Darikwa’s long throw into the penalty area, but his volley was thrashed wide of the mark.

As the game passed the hour mark the stifling heat began to have an effect on the pace of the game and defences became far more dominant with chances now at a premium as both sides reacted to the number of second-half changes.

Latics stopper Ben Amos was called into action in the 68th minute when he had to get down low to thwart Harvey Rodgers’ headed effort. 

Latics quickly went back on the front foot, and they had one final opportunity to win their penultimate pre-season encounter when Tom Pearce’s free-kick was on point for Jason Kerr to attack, but his header flew over the crossbar,

The scores remained locked at the Wham Stadium, but ultimately it turned out to be another successful night’s work for Richardson’s side as they gained further minutes under their belt with the new season edging closer. For Latics, their attention will now turn to Saturday when Sheffield Wednesday are the visitors at the DW Stadium.

Full Time; Accrington Stanley 0-0 Wigan Athletic.

Attendance; 857

WIGAN (4-2-3-1) -- Jones; Darikwa, Whatmough, Tilt, Bennett; Naylor, Power; McClean, Keane, Lang; Wyke; Subs; Amos (for Jones), Carragher (for Darikwa), Hughes (for Tilt), Kerr (for Whatmough), Pearce (for Bennett), S.Smith (for Naylor), Shinnie (for Power), Aasgaard (for McClean), Humphrys (for Keane), McGrath (for Lang), Magennis (for Wyke);

ACCRINGTON STANLEY (4-4-2) – Savin; Adedoyin, Conneely, Leigh, Longelo-Mbule, Nolan, Pell, Perritt, Procter, Rodgers, Sangare; Subs; Clark, Coyle, Hamilton, Isherwood, Jensen, Lowe, Martin, McConville, Pritchard, Whalley, Rich-Baghuelou;

Referee; Not Known