Charlie Kelman scored on his home debut

• Two deflected goals gave Exeter City a 2-1 victory against Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium.
• Former Latics manager and captain Gary Caldwell had seen his Exeter side defeated in the reverse fixture and in the FA Cup and he was determined to achieve a good result against his former employers.
• Thelo Aasgaard had two early chances for the hosts when first his header was well saved by Viljami Sinisalo and soon afterwards from a free-kick he forced a diving save from the Exeter goalkeeper.
• Caldwell’s team went ahead after 10 minutes when Mohamed Eisa’s strike took a big deflection off Charlie Goode and into the Latics net.
• Martial Godo had a great chance to restore parity on 37 minutes from Jordan Jones’ cross but his header was tame.
• The hosts continued to press for the equaliser in the second half, but it was the visitors who doubled their lead on 66 minutes with another deflected goal, this time Jack Aitchison’s strike took a big deflection off Scott Smith.
• Latics pulled a goal back on 71 minutes when substitute Charlie Kelman scored his first goal for the club after substitute Stephen Humphrys’ shot was spilled by Sinisalo.
• But despite late Latics pressure Caldwell’s Grecians held on for the three points.
• Latics drop to 14th and Exeter move up to 13th place in the League One table.

Shaun Maloney made two changes to his starting XI following the 3-2 away victory at Peterborough United. Steven Sessegnon missed out through injury and Jordan Jones came in for him, whilst the suspended Matt Smith was replaced by Scott Smith.

The Grecians had the first attempt at goal when Jack Aitchison volleyed just wide from the edge of the box in the first minute.

Latics might’ve gone ahead three minutes later as Godo’s cross from the right was met by Aasgaard, but his header was almost straight at Sinisalo.

Aagaard went close again soon afterwards this time from a 25-yard free-kick which Sinisalo did well to push round the post.

On 10 minutes Exeter had a big slice of luck to take the lead.

Eisa picked the ball up and drove forward before hitting a shot from 25 yards, which took a huge deflection off Goode and wrong-footed Sam Tickle.

The visitors were visibly boosted and Reece Cole forced a diving save from Tickle before Luke Harris fired wide from the edge of the box.

Latics had a big opportunity to draw level on 37 minutes as Jones’ cross found Godo unmarked inside the box, but he headed wide of the target.

Maloney made three positive changes at half-time with Sean Clare, Baba Adeeko and Josh Magennis being replaced by Jonny Smith, Chris Sze and Kelman.

The substitutes made a quick impact with Smith causing problems down the right with his pace and Kelman forcing a low save from Sinisalo from a tight angle.

Latics continued to push forward and looked the most likely to score with Smith having an effort deflected wide, before Sze had his header deflected wide.

Charlie Hughes had a header straight at the goalkeeper before Exeter were fortunate to double their lead.

A cross from the right was cleared only as far as Aitchison who fired low and the ball took a big deflection off Scott Smith giving Tickle no chance.

Latics didn’t give up and the QPR loanee Kelman got them back in the game on 71 minutes.

Substitute Humphrys’ shot was spilled by the goalkeeper and Kelman was there to finish from a tight angle.

Despite late Latics pressure they just couldn’t carve out any more clear-cut chances as Caldwell’s team held on for the three points.

Overview

Gary Caldwell had made some sour comments about Latics after the game in Exeter but he was in a more magnanimous mood after his team had won at the DW Stadium.

Latics had rode their luck in the two games in Devon, but the Grecians had been fortunate to win this game with two hugely deflected goals.

Maloney’s men had been the better outfit overall. They had enjoyed more possession, created more chances and on another day would have won the game.

The manager wants his players to adopt a patient approach, which can at times be frustrating for the fans, but this approach should pay dividends in the long run.

They had definitely missed Matt Smith’s presence in midfield, and the team had struggled to spark in the first half without the playmaker.

But it is perhaps inevitable that Latics continue to struggle for consistency given all the problems that they have had to contend with this season.

Maloney has a young and inexperienced squad but as they develop the confidence will grow and results will improve. 

Latics have a hectic period ahead with Oxford away on Tuesday, then Shrewsbury away before Cheltenham and Bolton at home in the space of just 15 days. Maloney will have to use his squad to good effect to ensure a satisfactory points haul.

Post match comments

Speaking to the media afterwards, Maloney expressed that the second half was a complete contrast to the first, but overall the result was a tough pill to swallow. 

“The result is tough,” he said.

“The performance in the second half was good, and I think it was a similar game to what we had down in Exeter. We had two games which were very difficult and we won them both, where Exeter dominated the ball.

“It felt like that in the first half today, and we had a lot of the ball and didn’t create. The second half felt completely different.

“We were very good in the second half but we gave ourselves too much to do.

“The first goal comes from our own throw in, and they’ve done well to block us in that area. I was more disappointed we conceded a goal because we started okay in the first 10 minutes.

“We have to play a certain way when teams set up deeper, and have to be really patient. We definitely weren’t patient in the first half.

“At 2-0 down, it felt far better and a real alignment compared to 1-0 in the first half. In the second half, the team and support were brilliant.

“We conceded two goals but the overall performance, I can’t really be critical of in the second half. The result is still tough to take.”

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