Argyle falter against Wigan
It was a frustrating afternoon for Argyle in Greater Manchester, as they were ultimately unable to find a winner against a Wigan side who they looked superior against for much of the first half.
Argyle controlled much of the possession in the first 45, and looked to penetrate the oppositions high line particularly, with the pace of the returning Ryan Hardie off the shoulder.
Whilst the option of Hardie, meant Argyle were able to get in behind a number of times, they were unable to really create any moments of danger for Jamie Jones in the Latics' goal.
However, despite Argyle's failure to finish off any attacking phase of play, the makeshift backline of Wigan never looked comfortable. This led to the first goal scored by Argyle, when a poorly judged back pass found Ryan Hardie, after some pressure from strike partner Luke Jephcott. Hardie picked up the loose ball and placed a well time lob over the stranded Jones which dropped into the net in the 34th minute for his first goal of the season.
From this point onwards, Wigan changed their strategy and started to go more direct. This unsettled Argyle slightly, and the home side began to ease themselves back into the game just before the interval.
Wigan continued the tactic of using the width to get the ball into the box at the start of the second half and in the absence of Niall Canavan, the Greens looked much less assured when dealing with high balls.
This uncertainty resulted in a goal which looked to be wrongly chalked off, just before the hour mark for John Sheridan's side.
A high cross from former Portsmouth man Kal Naismith, was adjudged to go out of play before it was it placed in by frontman Joe Garner. On second viewing it looked like the cross hit the joint between bar and post, rather than go over the deadball line. Both players contested the decision and after consultation with the assistant referee, the desicion went in Argyle's favour.
Rather than knock the wind out of their sales, Wigan picked themselves up and dominated until their goal on 69 minutes by former Manchester United man Will Keane.
Again, provided by Kal Naismith, after the ball was failed to be cut out by Tyrese Fornah in the midfield, Keane profited from some indecision by Michael Cooper to head level.
From that point on, Wigan looked relatively happy to settle for a point, and only hit on the break when both teams tired as the game came to a close.
Argyle did come close to winning the game late on through substitutes Frank Nouble and Panutche Camara had a great chance, but were ultimately left to rue their missed chances, on a day they probably would've felt they should've got the 3 points.
A disappointing result for Argyle, as they still search for their first away win of the season, despite creating more than enough opportunities to put the game to bed.
Still in the top half though and undoubtedly competitive in this division, Argyle will look to bounce back from this result, when they play Doncaster Rovers at Home Park on Tuesday.
It was a frustrating afternoon for Argyle in Greater Manchester, as they were ultimately unable to find a winner against a Wigan side who they looked superior against for much of the first half.
Argyle controlled much of the possession in the first 45, and looked to penetrate the oppositions high line particularly, with the pace of the returning Ryan Hardie off the shoulder.
Whilst the option of Hardie, meant Argyle were able to get in behind a number of times, they were unable to really create any moments of danger for Jamie Jones in the Latics' goal.
However, despite Argyle's failure to finish off any attacking phase of play, the makeshift backline of Wigan never looked comfortable. This led to the first goal scored by Argyle, when a poorly judged back pass found Ryan Hardie, after some pressure from strike partner Luke Jephcott. Hardie picked up the loose ball and placed a well time lob over the stranded Jones which dropped into the net in the 34th minute for his first goal of the season.
From this point onwards, Wigan changed their strategy and started to go more direct. This unsettled Argyle slightly, and the home side began to ease themselves back into the game just before the interval.
Wigan continued the tactic of using the width to get the ball into the box at the start of the second half and in the absence of Niall Canavan, the Greens looked much less assured when dealing with high balls.
This uncertainty resulted in a goal which looked to be wrongly chalked off, just before the hour mark for John Sheridan's side.
A high cross from former Portsmouth man Kal Naismith, was adjudged to go out of play before it was it placed in by frontman Joe Garner. On second viewing it looked like the cross hit the joint between bar and post, rather than go over the deadball line. Both players contested the decision and after consultation with the assistant referee, the desicion went in Argyle's favour.
Rather than knock the wind out of their sales, Wigan picked themselves up and dominated until their goal on 69 minutes by former Manchester United man Will Keane.
Again, provided by Kal Naismith, after the ball was failed to be cut out by Tyrese Fornah in the midfield, Keane profited from some indecision by Michael Cooper to head level.
From that point on, Wigan looked relatively happy to settle for a point, and only hit on the break when both teams tired as the game came to a close.
Argyle did come close to winning the game late on through substitutes Frank Nouble and Panutche Camara had a great chance, but were ultimately left to rue their missed chances, on a day they probably would've felt they should've got the 3 points.
A disappointing result for Argyle, as they still search for their first away win of the season, despite creating more than enough opportunities to put the game to bed.
Still in the top half though and undoubtedly competitive in this division, Argyle will look to bounce back from this result, when they play Doncaster Rovers at Home Park on Tuesday.
