Wigan Athletic 3 Bromley 2 - Saturday 31st October 2026

Latics Fight Back to Claim Vital Three Points

Report by John Patrick Heeley

Wigan Athletic produced a spirited comeback to secure a crucial 3-2 victory over Bromley at The Brick Community Stadium, ending a difficult run of three successive defeats and climbing off the foot of the Sky Bet League One table.

Goals from Christian Saydee, K’Marni Miller and Brad Burrowes ensured Latics claimed all three points in an entertaining five-goal encounter, although Gary Caldwell's side were made to work hard for the victory after twice allowing the visitors to draw level.

There was an early setback for Wigan when Bromley took the lead after just six minutes.

A dangerous long throw from Mitch Pinnock caused problems in the Latics penalty area, and Kamarl Grant was on hand to turn the ball home.

Having suffered three consecutive away defeats, Wigan needed a positive response, and they delivered one with an impressive spell of attacking football.

The equaliser arrived in the 18th minute when Connor Barrett produced excellent work to create the opportunity for Christian Saydee, who made no mistake from close range to register his third goal of the campaign.

Latics continued to press forward and were rewarded just five minutes later.

Reggie Walsh saw his effort tipped onto the crossbar by Bromley goalkeeper Grant Smith, but K’Marni Miller reacted quickest to head home the rebound and put Wigan 2-1 ahead, scoring his first senior goal for the club.

Wigan were enjoying their best spell of the afternoon and might have extended their advantage. Smith produced an excellent save to deny Saydee, while Charlie Gray also tested the Bromley goalkeeper with a well-struck effort.

However, Bromley struck again in first-half stoppage time. Following a spell of pressure inside the Wigan penalty area, George Saville found the net from close range to make it 2-2 at the break.

Latics returned for the second half determined to regain their advantage, and they found the decisive breakthrough on 58 minutes.

Barrett was involved once again, doing well to poke the ball into the path of Brad Burrowes, who finished confidently from close range to score his first senior goal and restore Wigan's lead.

It was a deserved reward for the young Aston Villa loanee, who had caused Bromley problems throughout the afternoon.

The visitors attempted to force an equaliser, with Joe Whitworth producing an important save to deny Jodi Jones before keeping out a further effort from Will Hondermarck in the closing stages.

Wigan also had opportunities to put the game beyond doubt, but the final whistle eventually brought welcome relief and celebrations around The Brick.

The victory was particularly important following defeats against Oxford United, Huddersfield Town and Leicester City, giving Caldwell's side a much-needed confidence boost and moving them three places up the League One table.

Wigan manager Gary Caldwell was delighted with the way his players responded to going behind early and felt his side deserved their victory.

Speaking after the game, Caldwell said: "The grey hairs are definitely coming! It was a crazy game, where I thought we had moments of some sensational play, moments of madness, moments of pure play, but we've won the game, and I think we deserved to."

"Some of our attacking play in moments was exceptional. I thought K’Marni and Brad were a constant threat. We scored good goals, and we could have scored more."

He continued: "The reaction was incredible. We spoke during the week about not giving the opposition anything, and we did that straight away."

"It shows the mentality of the group. It didn't take us out of our stride, and we didn't try something different. We committed to the game plan. We kept playing our game, kept playing through them, and we scored our goals."

Caldwell also acknowledged that there were areas of the performance that needed improvement, particularly defensively, but was pleased to see his players maintain their attacking approach despite the setbacks.