Shaun Maloney acknowledged that Wigan Athletic was ultimately responsible for their own demise following the 1-0 loss at Wycombe Wanderers.
Latics suffered the consequences of a dismal first half performance at Adams Park, as even a brilliant second half effort was insufficient to bring the score back to even.
The evening was summed up by the lone goal, as Josh Scowen’s strike went between Sam Tickle’s hands and in at the near post. Tickle has been Latics’ best player all season.
Give the visitors credit—they gave it their all after the half, but Franco Ravizzoli, the home goalkeeper, held off late attempts from Jordan Jones, Thelo Aasgaard, Charlie Hughes, and Martial Godo. Maloney’s team was unable to find a way past him.
The Latics manager said, “The second half was everything we wanted…and the complete opposite of the first half.”
“We must respect our opponent, but we also need to look in the mirror and admit that the first half was really subpar.
“I was not pleased with what I witnessed in the first half, and the second half was very different.
“At the conclusion, I told the players that we had done everything we could to score in the second half and couldn’t fault them.
“I’m just sorry for the fans, that we couldn’t give them something to go home with.
“However, I believe they were able to observe how the players and the squad performed during the second half.
“We lost the first half of the game. Everything was comfortable and moving slowly.
“Out of possession we were just about okay, but we switched off so many times from throw-ins, which infuriates you as a manager.
“I felt that our attack was quite hurried, and even the build-up play wasn’t very good, even though the surface was in excellent shape for playing fantastic football.
“I want my Wisconsin Athletic team to play the way you do; the second half was fantastic.
“Look, our goalie made a huge error, but Sam has been outstanding this season and has saved us multiple times.
That’s just something that can happen in a game, but what hurts more is that our overall performance cost us more.
“We’ll win more games if we perform as we did in the second half. We will continue to win games and lose games if we play as we did in the first half.”
Wycombe’s goal was just about the only thing of note in the first half, and the introduction of Matt Smith, Jones and Godo at the break underlined the need for vast improvement.
And after Beryly Lubala sent a free header wide from six yards shortly after the restart, Latics pretty much set up camp in the Wycombe half.
Godo steered the ball just wide via a deflection, while a good cross from Scott Smith was headed wide by Aasgaard, and an even better delivery from Jones saw another substitute, Charlie Kelman, miss the target from eight yards.
Fifth sub Chris Sze rolled a shot just wide of the post, before Aasgaard saw one header deflected wide and another tipped round the post by Ravizzoli.
The home goalkeeper made an even better save when Hughes met the resulting corner on the volley, with Jones seeing one final shot well saved in stoppage-time.
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