Wigan Athletic 1-1 Birmingham City: Latics Handed a Lifeline in Survival Fight, Following Scott Hogan Penalty

Miss - by Liam McDermott

Wigan Athletic salvaged a point by the skin of their teeth – against misfiring Birmingham City. It didn’t take long for the visitors to open the scoring, with Juninho Bacuna, arguably the star performer of the match, converting his free-kick from 25-yards with aplomb – sending the travelling faithful into raptures, after just four minutes.

With that flying start in mind, John Eustace’s men must have thought that they would have a field day against a side seemingly struggling for confidence. However, that didn’t tell, as Max Power, known for his emphatic long-range goals, showed great awareness to win the ball and chest it down – but his half-volley from 25-yards out could only hit the top of former England goalkeeper John Ruddy’s net.

In a side devoid of goals, Shaun Maloney elected to bring on Will Keane at half-time. With 10 goals to his name this season, the former Manchester United man very nearly made an immediate impact – forcing Ruddy into a smart save, from his shot on the turn. The home side now had momentum in abundance and wouldn’t have to wait much longer to earn their reward – with another former Manchester United frontman, Ashley Fletcher, sweeping James McClean’s pass home for the equaliser.

However, all of Wigan’s hard work was very nearly undone just five minutes later, with the electrifying Bacuna winning a contentious penalty for a foul by Ryan Nyambe. This struck fear into the hearts of the Latics contingent, but fortunately for them, Hogan’s spot-kick struck the woodwork.

It wouldn’t be the last time that the away side would be denied by the woodwork.

First, Tahith Chong saw his well-calculated shot hit the foot of Amos’ post – then Maxime Colin’s glancing header just moments later hit the same post, all this just two minutes after Hogan’s penalty failure.

The home side very nearly punished Blues’ inability to find the net, with Charlie Hughes showing great tenacity to carry the ball out of defence before picking out Fletcher, who in turn, found Keane –but his effort from an acute angle could only hit the side-netting.

Ultimately, there wasn’t anything to separate the two sides – it’s a precious point towards survival for Wigan who are now off the bottom of the table, having lost just once under Maloney’s six-game management.

As for Birmingham, they will wonder how they couldn’t turn one point into three – one win from their last six leaves them in the precarious position of 19th, just seven points above the dotted line.

Loughborough’s Joe Bickerstaffe Gives

An Insight Into the Life of a University Futsal Player

By Liam McDermott

We find ourselves in a St Helens café amongst the frantic frenzy of an early Sunday afternoon, following Joe Bickerstaffe’s return home from Loughborough, where he has been studying since 2020 – and has been a mainstay between the sticks for the university futsal team.

But it wasn’t always this way, cast your mind back to the mid-2000s, in the infancy of Bickerstaffe’s life.

“I was an outfielder to begin with, playing for Haydock aged six or seven, and I scored a few goals as a striker. But the keeper broke his arm, so the coach asked who wanted to go in net –to which I said that I would. My Dad didn’t want me to, but the rest was history,” he says. This would start a long-lived love affair with goalkeeping that has seen the 20-year-old play for a host of academies, before venturing down a different avenue in the form of futsal – in which he has achieved the privilege of performing on the national stage.

‘Bickers’ who had spent 12 years in academy systems was first acknowledged for his goalkeeping prowess at Bolton, before spending time at Bury – but he forged a true connection during his four-year tenure at Tranmere Rovers, where he signed a scholarship.

“I spent a lot of time there and I got to see a different side to it, with it being a full-time job,” he reminisces fondly.

But often is the harsh reality of professional football, particularly as a goalkeeper, that in the midst of lockdown, Bickerstaffe’s time at the club came to an end.

However, over the course of his time there, he says that the lessons he learned at the club were of greater value than those that he learned in Manchester City’s academy. And such is his character that, despite what felt like an earth-shattering set-back at the time, he has used this as a tool for motivation.

“I didn’t really know what to do, obviously I hadn’t planned to get released and I’d been training well, pre-lockdown. It was a shock to the system and I was upset, but I’ve got a good framework behind me, always telling me to keep my options open and to have a back-up plan. So straight away, I went to Loughborough and started studying my degree in Maths,” he says.

“That was probably the first time that I thought: ‘I might have to give up football’,” he says, dismayed.

“I’m thinking: ‘This will help me get to the next level’ and the manager even said: ‘You’re not going to be playing every game, but we’ll give you the minutes to improve you and get you going.’

“But then as soon as COVID hit and everything just stopped, I was like: ‘what do I do now?’ because I was obviously still at Prescot under-18s, but was too old, the next season.”

Image by Damon Mead

Of course, success comes with sacrifices, irrespective of what you intend to achieve – football isn’t an exception.

Likewise, the attribute of resilience or ‘bouncebackability’, to use a term coined by Iain Dowie, comes with failure.

For anyone who has been setback by rejection and failure, in a footballing capacity, Atkins says: “Don’t give up, just keep playing football, because you’ve been in an academy for a reason. People know what you’re like, you might think or say for example: ‘Oh, I was only at Everton. Only Everton know who I am.’ It’s not true, there are scouts out there from all over the country and you don’t realise. So for anyone that’s been dropped by an academy and your confidence is gone, just go playing Sunday League.

“If you wait for a few weeks and then just start messaging clubs saying: ‘This is my history, I’ve been released and I’m looking to get my confidence back up’ They may say: ‘Alright, come down for a trial,’ and you will get your confidence back up. Eventually, you might not get back into academy football, but you might go back to a good semi-professional team so it’s always worth the risk.” These trials and tribulations have shaped, not just the player, but the person that Atkins is today. The hitman has been a revelation at his new club, so much so that he has even received, but subsequently rejected lucrative offers from clubs in the Cymru Premier – something that he couldn’t have foreseen, a year ago.

“Last season I was awful and then obviously I hit the ground running at Prestatyn. So, for Welsh teams to come in and offer me contracts, I’m thinking: ‘Wow, you’ve only known me for six months, what’s going on here?”

As a lifeguard and semi-professional footballer, Atkins’ story is alike to that of West Ham forward Michail Antonio – who also was employed in the same occupation, when he was playing at a semi-professional level. However, he feels that his footballing ability is akin to that of Luis Suarez, who he grew up idolising.

“He just doesn’t stop chasing and he scores from anywhere. Obviously, he’s got his antics but take those away and I personally think he’s the best number nine in the world,” he says. This season, Atkins has proven to be a scorer of great goals, as well as a great goalscorer –which has resulted in him being named the league’s ‘Player of the Month’, on two occasions. Ultimately though, with this lifeguard making a splash at Prestatyn, he will be hoping that this can result in them moving up and out of the deep end of the Welsh footballing pyramid.