Williams sent off as Wigan and Barnsley share spoils

Posted Sunday, September 01, 2019 by PA

Championship strugglers Wigan and Barnsley played out a goalless draw at the DW Stadium in a game that will not live long in the memory for those in attendance.

In a cagey affair, neither side showed much in terms of quality or flair.

The result leaves the hosts in the bottom three while the visitors ended the game with 10 men after Ben Williams was dismissed for a shocking challenge on Wigan’s Lee Evans in stoppage time.

In a first half with few clear-cut chances to speak of, it was Wigan who started brighter.

With just four minutes on the clock, Nathan Byrne’s cross veered towards goal but was cleared after scraping the underside of the crossbar.

A few minutes later, Jamal Lowe crossed to find Michael Jacobs but the forward’s effort was blocked.

The visitors started to get on the ball as the half progressed, with Conor Chaplin asking questions of the Wigan defence.

The forward will rue not taking full advantage of Chey Dunkley’s poor clearance, though, when he found himself with the ball on the edge of the six-yard box. The Wigan defender quickly recovered to block Chaplin’s goal-bound strike.

Wigan’s closest effort on goal came from the boot of centre-back Charlie Mulgrew after his free-kick looked destined for the top corner before being tipped behind by Brad Collins.

While the first half was relatively even, it was the visitors who raised the tempo after the break.

Left back Williams showed great intent to get forward and battle his way inside the box but fired his effort across the face of goal.

Luke Thomas and Chaplin then linked up superbly but the latter’s effort was scuffed wide.

Wigan goalkeeper David Marshall then had to pull off two fine saves to keep the scores level.

The first came when he tipped behind a thunderous effort from Tykes captain Mike Bahre. The Scottish stopper was then on hand to somehow keep out Luke Thomas’ sweet volley from the resulting corner.

The game started to come alive in the final quarter with both sides pushing forward to find a winner.

Barnsley came close again when Schmidt was inches away from converting Williams’ cross.

Substitute Gavin Massey then saw his effort blocked for Wigan before a fantastic save by Collins denied Joe Garner from point-blank range.

As the clock struck 90 minutes, Williams lunged in on Wigan’s Lee Evans. A mass brawl nearly ensued but Latics manager Paul Cook played peacekeeper as referee Andy Woolmer pulled out the red card.