A game of two halves

Last updated : 09 April 2005 By The Chairman

A drawn game was the result of a well contested ‘match of the roses’ game in front of almost 10,000 fans, some 4,000 having made the short trip over the Pennines. The first half belonged to the Latics and Killen should have given them the lead just eight minutes into the game after a fine ball from Betsy was shot just over. They deservedly took the lead in the 27th. minute after Kilkenny put through, who else but, Luke Beckett who finished in style. Beckett could have made it two, minutes later, but unfortunetely his shot came back off the crossbar to safety. More powerful play from the home side resulted in Killen bringing a fine save from Gallagher.

The Wednesday manager must have pumped up his team for the second half as they came out in a more determined mood. They equalised within six minutes of the whistle when Whelan shot past an unsighted Mildenhall from the edge of the box. Ronnie Moore tried shuffling the pack and gave debuts to both Delroy Facey (pictured) and Amadou Sanokho in an attempt to swing the Latics back into action. Both teams tried to break the deadlock in a late flurry of action. An incredible 6 minutes of injury time was added in which Whelan was dismissed for a second yellow card but both teams hung on for a deserved share of the spoils.

In the after match press comment, Ronnie Moore said, “Mark Hughes had to come off with chest problems. The big lad came on for us (Facey) and he just needs to learn how to track and mark. But I'm looking forward to getting to 50 points so I can see one or two of the players. Scott Vernon wasn't even included today and Facey showed he's got a bit of pace and will cause sides one or two problems. Overall we're undefeated and that's the big thing. It's five games. We've put the wedge in. Alright, some of the results have gone against us. Peterborough and Torquay have won, Walsall scored last kick but it makes it interesting!"

"You don't normally get six minutes of added time at the end of the game. There were one or two injuries but when they went down to 10 men, six minutes wasn't too bad. But we've still got to learn how to close a game out. There's one or two not professional enough to do the right thing but they're learning. If we don't lose another game this season then we'll be safe but we still need that elusive win.”