Wigan battle back to deny Notts County a major scalp

Posted Sunday, January 24, 2010 by theguardian.com

Wigan battle back to deny Notts County a major scalp
Notts County's Jamie Clapham battles with Jason Scotland of Wigan during their FA Cup fourth round tie at Meadow Lane.

Roberto Martínez did not throw any teacups at half-time – they drink only coffee in the Spaniard's dressing-room – but he did have some choice words for his Premier League side after they were comprehensively outplayed in the opening half by their League Two hosts. A first Wigan goal in 21 appearances for Jason Scotland and a late Ben Watson header cancelled out first-half goals from Lee Hughes and Ben Davies.

Hughes scored his 11th goal in nine appearances and could have had a hat-trick as he and his County team-mates, tore into the match with an intensity their lofty visitors could not match. The in-form striker dragged an early shot wide before scampering on to Davies's weighted pass and rolling the ball under debutant Vladimir Stojkovic.

Kasper Schmeichel had tipped a Scotland drive on to a post before County took the lead but the hosts largely dominated until the break and it was no less than they deserved when Davies made it 2-0 with a curling 22-yard free-kick.

"Many of my players never played in the FA Cup and maybe they couldn't expect what they experienced in the first half but that is not an excuse," said Martínez. "We were really slow and really sloppy."

Wigan were quicker and tidier after the break (they couldn't have been much worse) and the FA Cup shock warning system was lowered to the orange of their shirts when Hugo Rodallega and Scotland combined on the edge of the area beforethe latter poked the ball beyond Schmeichel.

Scotland's goal seemed to galvanise the Premier League side and the Trinidad and Tobago international twice went close and Titus Bramble scooped a shot over the bar from a yard. .

Looking to advance beyond the fourth round for the first time in 19 years, County were never going to surrender and the substitute Luke Rodgers twice drew wonderful saves from Stojkovic as Wigan threw more players forward.

On the merit of their second-half performance Wigan just about deserved Tuesday week's replay, which was secured in the most inelegant fashion when Watson headed a Charles N'Zogbia corner over the line from close range.

County's caretaker manager, Dave Kevan, is looking forward to that replay, should he still be in charge of the team or not: "I thought the lads were fantastic today. It was a proper Cup tie that the supporters will enjoy but in the cold light of day we might have mixed feelings that we didn't hold out."