Season of disappointment ends with creditable draw – Wigan Athletic 1 Leeds United 1

Ryan-Tunnicliffe

Ryan Tunnicliffe scored his first and possibly last goal for Latics.

Wigan Athletic finished the season with a creditable 1-1 draw against Leeds United at the DW Stadium on Sunday.

Ryan Tunnicliffe produced a composed finish rounding Leeds keeper Rob Green to make it 1-0 to Latics after six minutes.

Fulham loanee Tunnicliffe turned from hero to villain early in the second half when he foolishly tripped Eunan O’Kane in the box and Chris Wood converted the penalty to draw Leeds level.

Kemar Roofe hit the crossbar for Leeds but Omar Bogle should have done better when he had two one-on-ones with the Leeds keeper and might have been awarded a penalty when he appeared to be brought down by Rob Green, but the scores stayed level at the final whistle.

Latics must now regroup in League One after an abject season in the Championship and Leeds will reflect on how they missed out on the play-offs after failing to win in their final five games.

In what looks likely to be interim manager Graham Barrow’s last game in charge, he made three changes from the 1-0 defeat at Reading, with Max Power, Callum Connolly and Omar Bogle replacing Shaun MacDonald, Reece Burke and Nick Powell.

Latics were ahead after only six minutes when Michael Jacobs produced a slide rule pass to free Tunnicliffe in the box, and the former Manchester United reserve rounded Green to slot home from close range.

Leeds pushed forward to try and get a quick response but Latics looked dangerous on the break. Green was given a yellow card for stopping Tunnicliffe taking a quick throw-in as Latics threatened.

On 25 minutes Bogle had his first one-on-one when he broke clear and Green had to be quick off his line to make a sharp save.

Green then saved at the feet of Tunnicliffe as he picked up Max Power’s through ball.

Latics were good value for the lead as the teams went in at half time.

But in the 49th minute Leeds were given a route back into the game when Tunnicliffe tripped Eunan O’Kane in the box, Chris Wood calmly converting the penalty kick.

Soon afterwards Leeds might have gone ahead but Kemar Roofe’s 25-yard shot struck the crossbar and bounced away to safety.

It was end-to-end stuff now as Bogle had his second one-on-one opportunity.

Bogle hesitated in front of the advancing Green, the striker’s initial effort was saved but from the follow up the keeper appeared to bring down Bogle, and despite Latics’ appeals for a penalty nothing was awarded.

Barrow replaced Craig Morgan, Michael Jacobs and David Perkins with Alex Bruce, Nick Powell and Ryan Colclough as Latics tried to finish the season with a win.

Latics’ best opportunity to claim victory came in the last minute of added time. Green failed to get any distance on a punch from a free-kick and Power’s attempted lob back was frustratingly wide of the target.

Overall Latics were a little unlucky not to have secured all three points, but in the grand scheme of things it was all immaterial, as they had already been relegated and Leeds had already missed out on promotion.

About ianhaspinall

Communications specialist, Wigan Athletic fan & blogger, interested in music, arts & culture.
This entry was posted in Championship, Chris Wood, Graham Barrow, Leeds United, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Wigan Athletic and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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