Wigan Athletic 2 Bradford City 0: Joke is on Bantams after Latics do a job on them
THE second-half chant was cheeky and just a little bit cutting, as it was on Wednesday evening.
Unlike Bradford City’s previous away game at Port Vale, the ditty came from home supporters this time and not those with White Rose affiliations, who would not have seen the funny side on this occasion.
Bantams followers took great delight in delivering a rendition of ‘We’re off to Tottenham, you’re off to York’ as those on the pitch in claret and amber held court in a comprehensive and classy showing at Vale Park.
An encore wasn’t belted out against another side at the wrong end of League One three days on.
This time, the song of choice came from the Wigan Athletic contingent, enjoying what they were seeing deep into the game. ‘Can we play you every week?’ was the delicious refrain from their perspective.
Graham Alexander won’t have been laughing. He certainly wasn’t about the timing of the game, less than 24 hours after Bradford’s other major professional sports club visited the Brick Community Stadium for a rugby league fixture. Yes, the Bulls were humbled as well.
Speaking after the game, an unamused Alexander said: "You're playing on a pitch that less than 24 hours ago had a game of rugby on it, which is a joke really for this level. But that's what it is.
"There's not a lot you can do with that, is there, unfortunately? It's out of our control. Common sense would say that the rugby match is after the football match.”
It was not the best surface for sure, as many aren’t at this time of year.
But what was also clear was that Wigan managed the game - and not just the pitch - much better than City.
The hosts were not interested in making it a basketball game - you attack, we attack - and were perfectly within their rights to do so. Latics chief Gary Caldwell will have also been conscious that City mustered seven efforts on target at Vale in midweek. His own side were turned over 3-0 at home by Plymouth Argyle.
Barring a lively enough first few minutes or so and a couple of half-moments in the second half, Bradford offered next to nothing from an attacking sense, despite the best efforts of their 4,602 followers.
Wigan, to their credit, did a job on City in a tactically savvy performance.
How did they do it? Well, by smartly doubling up on Josh Neufville and Tyreik Wright and negating City’s twin threats down the flank for starters.
In the middle, their central midfield two in Jensen Weir and Owen Moxon were first to most things, while Caylan Vickers and Callum Wright found pockets to play unlike fellow 10s Antoni Sarcevic and Bobby Pointon as Wigan successfully matched up with City’s 3-4-2-1 formation.
Max Power, back on familiar turf and one of several ex-Latics players, was stymied by the presence of Joe Taylor, who carried out Caldwell’s plans to the letter by filtering back and denying the City captain time and space on the ball in possession when he dropped deep.
On the day, not one but two West Yorkshire teams were lamenting the presence of Taylor, who has found a home in a blue and white jersey, but not the one of his parent club Huddersfield Town.
The forward has got his mojo back after a hard first half of the season at Town.
His clincher on 78 minutes showcased a player with confidence coursing through his veins and enjoying his football again. To City’s chagrin and possibly Huddersfield’s.
It wasn't the best day for Jenson Metcalfe. Rightly feted of late, the Wiganer did it tough back home. Taylor profited from his miskick and surged clear before finishing with a deadly, pinpoint stab with the outside of his boot. It's not the sort of thing he's done at Huddersfield.
Wigan's early opener wasn't half-bad either, even if City did not cover themselves in glory again when Callum Murray cut the ball back to unattended ex-Barnsley loanee Vickers, who made space before lashing home an angled drive into the top corner.
Wigan was the venue where City's unforgettable run to the League Cup final showpiece in 2012-13 famously gathered wings. If the Bantams want to get to Wembley again this season, they will need to avoid many more performances like this.
Wigan Athletic: Tickle; Kerr, Aimson, Chapman (Robinson 90); Raphael, Weir, Moxon (Saydee 85), Murray; Vickers (Smith 59), C Wright; Taylor (Hungbo 91). Substitutes unused: Savin, McManaman, Bettoni.
Bradford City: Walker; Pennington (Ashby 75), Tilt, Touray; Neufville, Metcalfe, Power, T Wright; Sarcevic (Swan HT), Pointon (Humphrys HT) Wheatley (Mullin HT). Substitutes unused: Hilton, J Wright, Evans.
Referee: A Humphries (Northants)