John McAtee stepped up his comeback in the B Team but couldn’t stop the Whites exiting the Central League Cup, writes Pete Oliver.
McAtee played for 45 minutes to get valuable game-time into his legs at Lostock after missing Wanderers’ last four games with a hamstring problem.
The frontman was a willing worker and had one difficult early chance he volleyed over the top in the worst of the blustery conditions but wasn’t helped by a poor first-half performance from the Whites who trailed to a goal from Reece Greenhalgh at the break.
And despite a much-improved showing from Andy Taylor’s side after the break, they couldn’t force a breakthrough and go for the win they needed to leapfrog the Latics at the top of Group A to reach the semi-finals.
A disappointed Taylor said: “I can accept the result, because that's football, you don't always win. I can accept the second-half performance because they had a go.
“Yes, we can talk about a little bit of a lack of quality in the final third to finish your chances but we were by far the dominant team in the second half, so I can accept that.
“But I cannot, and will not, accept the first-half performance, and they shouldn't either. Not in terms of quality, just purely in terms of attitude and just having a go, playing properly and having some personal pride in your work.
“I can't accept that, and like I said, they shouldn't either. They just out-fought us in the first half, which is a tough thing to say and, as a professional player, it should really hurt you. The second half was a lot better, but first half, you just can't do that.”
Wanderers – who lost captain Harley Irwin to an early blow to the face – were poor in a first half played against the wind and after hitting the bar through Joe Gilbertson’s free-kick, Wigan deservedly went ahead when Reece Greenhalgh volleyed home Christy Edwards’ fine cross at the far post.
With a half-time reminder from Taylor ringing in their ears, Wanderers did get on the front foot after the break and applied most of the pressure.
Ollie Smith dragged a decent chance wide before forcing Matteo Spinelli into a save. But despite some promising positions, Wanderers were guilty of not working the Wigan keeper enough as Latrell Lewis and Daeshon Lawrence fired wide before second-year scholar Lucas Kirkpatrick missed a late chance to cap his decent performance with a goal.
Wanderers: Lomax, O’Neill, Grayson (Tutte 70), Taylor (Oliver 60), Temple, Mawditt, Irwin (Lewis 30 (Thomas 75), McAtee (Taylor HT), Smith, Kirkpatrick, Lawrence.