Charlie Hughes nets extremely late winner as Wigan edge Wycombe

Posted Wednesday, January 24, 2024 by PA

England Under-20s star Charlie Hughes popped up with a winner after 20 minutes of second-half stoppage-time as Wigan edged a 1-0 Sky Bet League One victory over Wycombe in a match otherwise devoid of much excitement or entertainment.

Centre-back Hughes had earlier tried his luck from his own half – which never threatened to trouble Max Stryjek – and that was about it for the first half.

The game was in desperate need of something to shake it into life and it arrived 10 minutes after the restart – in slapstick fashion.

Referee Adam Herczeg was caught in a midfield sandwich and – after a delay lasting the best part of 20 minutes, while a qualified whistler was found in the crowd – he was replaced in the middle by fourth official Steven Rushton.

Immediately after the restart, Wycombe thought they had scored, when Luke Leahy’s shot deflected in off Kieran Sadlier, with a massive deflection doing for Sam Tickle.

However, the flag was straight up on the near side for offside.

An unbelievable defence-splitting pass from Hughes then released Steven Sessegnon, just inside the box, who dragged his shot just wide.

With 20 minutes of added time, there was time for Wycombe to fashion a big opportunity of their own, when a long ball was flicked on and Richard Kone’s shot needed a brilliant save from Tickle to keep it out – before Hughes’ last-gasp heroics.